The Tournament
by lookingforwaifu
Summary: AU. Follow Hermione as she receives a strange letter inviting her to participate in a grand event. A past event that she can't seem to run away from and a strange, quirky wizard who she unwillingly has to trust her safety with. With the promise of a request, what will she wish for if she survives?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello to anyone that reads this, if you're interested in my first story please note it has not been dropped; I'm just dealing with a little writers block at the moment with it. This story, which will not get out of my head has unfortunately taken the space I would usually have for writing. So I'm hoping by writing this, it'll give me thoughts and interesting things to write about for my first story.

Please consider this first chapter as a sort of prologue if you will. I'll judge based on reception if I'll continue it, I just had to get the idea out of my head. Thank you for all the views and comments I've received already, they really do motivate me.

* * *

 **The Tournament**

 **The Wizard From Her World**

Chapter 1

* * *

"OK, class dismissed."

As soon as the professor spoke up the classroom immediately erupted with noise. Students chatted to each other, chairs scraped against the ground as they were pushed back. All eager to leave and go home.

"Oh and Mr. Peterson, don't think I've forgotten; I want that assignment in by next week!" The professor, a tall older gentleman with a balding patch on his head shouted out to his student just before he could flea who elicited a groan at being reminded of the horrors that were assignments.

In small groups the students left, and eventually only one remained. Hermione Granger was slowly packing up her books and notes, making sure they were all in the correct place in her bag. She wasn't in a rush like the others. In fact, she often wished the university classes lasted longer. If she was honest with herself she had hoped university would turn out better than her years in college. Isolated and virtually friendless, it was never nice thinking back on those years. She thought university would be different, a group of like minded individuals; all sharing the same love for learning. She was mistaken very quickly. While she attended Harvard under a scholarship, others were admitted through connection or financial wealth. Most didn't care about learning, they just wanted to get through it so they could say they graduated from a esteemed school.

Hermione jumped as the noise from one of the doors of the classroom shut, bumping on the frame as it did. Even the professors didn't seem to want to stick around. Sighing, and a little thankful that she got through another day without any incidents she closed her back and made sure the catch was secured. Too many times had it split, it made her nervous. She knew she could carry less, but what if she missed something or wasn't prepared for a question?

She stood up and pulled on her coat, brushing a few strands of hair away from her face as the fur lined hood fell onto her head. After pushing the hood back off her head she swung her bag over her shoulder and left through the other door to the classroom but immediately stumbled when her leg caught on something. She managed to catch herself on the wall on the other side of the corridor.

"Watch it Granger, I was resting my legs there."

Hermione turned around quickly, cursing herself for jinxing it. Jason Brookes was smirking at her as he leaned against the wall, a few other girls and boys standing around him and trying to hold in their laughter.

Holding back her comments about how only idiots would put their legs in front of a door she made to turn and walk the other way down the corridor. She was blocked however when Jason stepped in front of her.

"What's the rush Granger? Too eager to get to your next class, you do know the days over; right? Or maybe you don't…" He said, laughing to himself and the other joined in.

She used to argue back, but knowing it was useless against the idiot that stood before her she simply said nothing and tried to walk around him. He moved with her, continuing to block her path.

"Move, please." Hermione said, frustrated. She didn't want it to escalate.

This only caused Jason to smile more however, and she internally cursed herself once again. "And there's that pretty voice we all hear _so_ often in class." He said, sending a subtle wink at one of his friends behind her.

The next second her bag was quickly pulled off her shoulder.

"Hey!" She yelled, turning around quickly but Emma Jones, who was Jason's girlfriend was blocking her other way, she had thrown the back to one of the boys behind her. "Give it back." She said coldly.

"How come you always refuse to hang out with us Granger?" She said mockingly, knowing she wouldn't fight back.

"I'm busy." Was all Hermione said, looking at her bag, thankfully they weren't pulling things out of it.

"Busy? Doing what? Surely you can spend some time _not_ studying?" Emma said.

Hermione was getting angry. "And what's so wrong if I do?!" She yelled. "Now give me back my bag."

"I said, give it back." She said again, glaring at the boy holding it. He looked a little apprehensive but didn't hand it over, obviously to afraid of what Jason might think or say.

Hermione tried stepping forwards, the thought of just pushing Emma out of the way and taking her bag back when Jason grabbed her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Come on Granger, why not hang out with us? Where's the harm?" He said into her ear.

She stopped dead, some fear spreading into her mind as she thought quickly. What was happening was fairly tame compared to other things that have happened to her but one instance sprange to the forefront of her mind.

Jason continued to speak quietly into her ear, rooting her to the cold floor. "The whole school knows about your little… Adventure, with Smith. Why can't we have some fun too?" He said subtly.

Her memories were rushing past her a mile a second as fear and panic flooded her emotions. She was trying not to cry, to keep her cool. Nearly every day she heard the whispers, the students discussing her behind her back. Even some of the teachers seemed to regard her cooly. All for something that wasn't her fault.

Clentching her fights and shutting her eyes to keep the threatening tears at bay she thought about what her mother had told her. It had taken a lot of her courage to tell her, but she was happy when she did. "You did nothing wrong, ignore them and if they aggravate you ignore them still. At the end of the day you're a far better person." Her mother always said. While she agreed with it, knowing that bullies looked for a reaction out of someone but her situation was a little differently.

She pulled his arms from around her waist and shoved them back towards him. Walking past Emma she glared at her pretty smirking face and didn't slow as her shoulder was buffeted. Quickly grabbing her bag from the boy's hand, who honestly looked a little nervous and walked at a fast pace down the corridor without looking back. Once she was around the corner she stopped and leant her back against the wall, letting a large breath she had been holding in. She listened out to see if they would follow her.

"Dumb slut, let's go; she's a huge bore anyway." She heard the echo of Emma bounce down the corridor to where she was. They said words couldn't hurt you, but comments like that almost chipped away at her slowly.

 _It wasn't your fault_. She almost had to remind herself.

She didn't know how long she stood there for, a few silent tears cascading down her cheek as she thought about how unfair it was. She tried so hard, yet nothing had changed since school.

It wasn't much longer until she walked through the door to her dorm. It was small, but she was glad she didn't have to share. Letting her heavy bag drop to the floor with a _thud_ Hermione walked over to her small single bed and collapsed face first into it.

"Just one more year, that's all you have to do Hermione. One more year of hard work and you'll be free of it all." She mumbled into her duvet.

* * *

Some hours later, and well into the night she was awoken by a strange noise. She couldn't quite place it but it sounded like it was coming from outside, as if someone was dropping things on her small balcony. It was called a balcony but it really wasn't. She could open a small door which had about half a foot of space before a metal railing. It was nice in the summers though.

As the insufferable noise wouldn't stop she pushed herself off the best, not realising she had fallen asleep when she'd come home she pulled the heavy jumper off and set it neatly down on a small chair beside the window. She often sat there for hours on end, reading happily with the sun shining on the pages of whatever book she was interested in at the time.

The noise persisted and she found herself curious. Walking quietly over to glass door she pulled the thin curtain aside and peered outside.

 _Hoot_.

Hermione jumped, and stumbled over her feet, falling heavily onto the carpeted floor. "Ow…" She said as she slowly got back up. She opened one of the curtains fully this time, now prepared, having been caught off guard and not expecting an owl of all things to be perched on her balcony railing.

She pulled the glass door open. "Hello little owl…" She said softly, feeling stupid. "Are you lost?"

Her memory quickly went to any of the books she had read about owls. She knew they were nocturnal, and hunted mostly at night so it shouldn't be that strange for one to be resting there. It was just an inconvenience as it's sharp claws scratched against the metal railing. It simply hooted at her daft question.

As she looked at the sharp claws of the owl she noticed something foreign. A small triangle piece of what looked like old paper. She wondered if the owl was on a delivery.

 _Can owl's deliver messages?_ She thought. She knew about carrier pigeons. Some were still used although it was a bit of a joke with today's technology. Hesitantly she extender her hand, wondering briefly if it was actually for her. Expecting to be scratched or bitten she was surprised when the owl extended its leg to her.

"It's… It's for me?" She said nervously? Not caring that she was speaking to an owl, if anyone ever saw they would think she was crazy. The owl simply stared at her with it's large amber eyes. Hermione nervously untied the small paper, trying not to fumble to much with string. She didn't want to aggravate the owl. Defying her expectations the owl simply did nothing as she removed the paper. As soon as it was free however the owl promptly spread its large wings and flew off.

"Ow!" Hermione exclaimed for the second time that night as a wing clipped her in the face.

She watched the owl for a few minutes, until she couldn't see it anymore before closing the door. A shiver ran down her body, not having paid much attention to the cold night air. Pulling her curtain shut again she walked over to her bed and sat down and pulled her duvet up and around her. She turned the small lamp on the bedside table on, casting a soft orange light around the room. Once her hands stopped shivering she slowly unfolded the letter. It was made of parchment, having held some from the school's library when she had to look up really old facts and information. Smoothing it out on her leg she began to read.

 _Miss Hermione Jean Granger,_

 _You're here by selected to participate in a grand event. Hosted by the Ministry once every 20 years. The Tri Wizard Tournament is a fundamental spectacle of our current society. Each applicant, chosen by the Goblet of Fire, will be paired with a witch or wizard closest their age. Fear not however as these magicals boste excellent magic prowess and abilities that will help you in your tasks and ultimately, victory._

 _The victor will receive a substantial sum, guaranteeing you wealth for the remainder of your life and the eternal glory to match it, your name will be known in history. You will also receive, should you win, a request of your choosing._

 _No preparation is needed, no items or information is needed or could be found as the tasks are different with every Tournament. Simply touch this parchment on the specified time and you will be transported to your starting location._

 _Your arrival time: 13:00PM_

 _Your arrival date: February 3rd 1997_

 _Wishing you eternal victory._

 _Yours thoughtfully,_

 _Verinda Montague_

 _Head of Tournament Applications and Planning_

 _Ministry of Magic_

Hermione sat, staring at what she had just read. She wasn't sure if she was breathing or not. _Is this a joke?_ It didn't seem like it. Sure, she had pranks pulled on her a few times a month but they were never this, thought out. The letter, on closer inspection looked like genuine parchment. There was even an elegant red seal with a logo on it.

"Ministry of Magic? What does that mean?" She said out loud. Hermione read the letter over and over again, until she knew it from memory. There was no such thing as magic, it was all part of the fairytales and stories she was told as a kid. It _had_ to be a joke and even if it wasn't, why was she being picked.

Her mind was going crazy. It was a joke, just a joke. It couldn't be real. These thoughts crashed through her mind, each with a reply of _why not?_

"Why can't it not be real?" She mumbled and shook her head. She was looking for an escape, but this wasn't it. Falling into the trap of some crazy idiot who was either trying to scare her or make her look like a fool.

Finally getting angry at herself she scrunched the letter up and threw it across the room. Turning her light off she went to bed and was soon sound asleep. Her dreams filled with wild fantasies of magic.

* * *

The next morning was a struggle for Hermione. She wasn't used to being woken up in the middle of the night and it had really done a number on her. To make matters worse her hair wouldn't do what it was told so she just decided to straighten it as best she could and put it up in a ponytail. Her uniform, which she usually left neatly out was a crumbled mess and to top everything else off, she had stubbed her toe on the way out of her dorm.

The lessons didn't go so well either. Her mind scattered, thoughts still on the letter and a fantasy she wished to fulfill she struggled to answer questions. She didn't even notice people were staring at her as she played with her pen and stared out of the window. Usually one to sit up straight while giving the professor her full attention while taking notes.

Lunch was better, she ate some food in the cafeteria like she always did. No one bothered her thankfully, although she did notice a few people looking at her, but that wasn't out of the ordinary at lunch time. She didn't eat much, a simple sandwich and a small salad but it was enough fuel to get her brain back into gear and she decided there and then the letter was just a joke she wasn't going to fall for, she was done being naive and innocent.

She didn't realise she would be second guessing herself so soon as the 3rd arrived and she sat on her chair, hugging her legs and staring at the crumpled parchment in the corner of the room. It was 12:50, she had never skipped a lesson before but they started up again in ten minutes but there she sat, staring at the parchment.

"It's not real." She said to herself for the fifth time.

She kept her eyes on the parchment however. The past few days had been horrible for her. Lack of concentration, coupled with strange dreams left her feeling terrible and exhausted. She took more lessons than what was average at Harvard, so doing them all when you're only half there was a struggle. She just wanted it to be over, but she was struggling with herself.

12:55 and she still hadn't moved. Deep in the back of her mind she wanted too. She wanted to pick it up, to hold it and to be whisked off to a new world filled with lavish landscapes and magic. Somewhere that accepted her and she could make friends.

A few minutes to go and she stood, but still rooted to the spot. Her legs wanted to move but her brain was telling them not too. She'd never felt so conflicted in her life. All of her decisions had been based on facts and knowledge.

The facts were telling her that this couldn't possibly be real, people pulled pranks like this all the time. She'd read and heard the stories. The knowledge part she was struggling with, there was no knowledge of magic; apart from it not being real.

She took a few steps forward, biting her nails and hesitantly reached down to grab the crumpled letter, smoothing it out in her hands. She looked at her watch and saw there was a minute to go.

"This is it." She said to herself. "Now you'll see why you shouldn't have gotten your hopes up."

As the minute hand fell on one o'clock her hands started to feel strange as they gripped the parchment. Staring at the letter in disbelief she noticed it start to shine softly, the colour seemed to be blue.

The next moment, her Harvard dorm was empty.

Hermione landed in a crumpled heap, face hitting dirt and her arm was off at a wonky angle.

"Ow ow ow…" She said between breaths as she tried to push herself off the ground. As soon as she was on her knees the world was spinning and she clutched her head for support. Closing her eyes didn't seem to help as the sea sickness feeling seemed to be getting worse. She hoped she wasn't going to throw up.

"The feeling will pass, don't worry." A male voice said to her.

She jumped at the voice, not realising she wasn't alone. Squinting against the bright sun light that she noticed was shining down from above she tried to locate where the voice had come from. When she did, she was a little worried about what she saw.

A boy around her age, which she guessed he would probably be eighteen by the looks of him was laying down on a large rock, more resembling a boulder. The sun hit it square on, as if he was hoping for a tan.

"C-Can I help you?" Hermione said nervously, the fear of vomiting all over the ground slowly creeping up on her as she spoke.

The boy didn't move as he basked in the sunlight. "I suppose I should be asking you that question, Miss…?" He asked and Hermione realised he was asking for her name.

"Oh, Hermione. Hermione Granger." She said as she stood to her feet. She swayed a little, and her arm hurt but so far she was good. "Is this a dream, or something?" She blurted out, not being able to stop herself.

This time he looked at her. "A dream? Why would it be a dream, you accepted the invitation right?" He asked, puzzled.

Hermione nodded, not really knowing what to say.

"Well then. You're here of your own volition, dumb move but there you go. I was hoping for an easy run of the Tournament." He said as stretched his arms.

"Dumb move?" She couldn't help but ask. "What do you mean by that, who are you?"

The boy jumped down from the huge rock and Hermione could have sworn he slowed down just before hitting the ground.

The names Harry. Just Harry." He said with a smile. She couldn't quite help looking at his eyes, vivid green that seemed to warm her he was dangerous. "And I'm your wizard, at your service." He took a deep bow.

"Wizard?"

"That's the general term for us yes, and you're a muggle. What of it?" He said, clearly enjoying her confused state.

"And Muggle? What does that mean?" She asked, taking a step back. He decided to take a step forward, keeping the distance.

"It means you're not magical, no magic in your blood." He said as if it was common knowledge.

Hermione kept taking a step back as he took a step forward, he had a small smile plastered on his face and it was making her uncomfortable.

"And this… This, Tournament. It's real then?" She said, noticing how scared she sounded.

"Oh course, why wouldn't it be? You _did_ read the letter right?"

She thought back to what the letter said, it wasn't that informative but so far she had to believe what she was seeing and hearing. As she looked around she noticed she was in a large opening, huge intricate stone walls surrounded her but the ceiling was open to the sun and clouds above. She noticed on one of the walls there was a large opening, she couldn't see what was down there however as it was almost pitch dark.

"O-Of course I read the letter! It didn't exactly explain anything though! I though… I thought it was all just a joke." She mumbled towards the end, not wanting to look at him. However she was suddenly forced to as he back his something solid and she couldn't back up anymore.

Her brown eyes met his green and she was fixed on them, not able to look away. His hand was slowly extending towards her and just before he reached her she scrunched her eyes shut. A soft brushing sensation on her cheek and then it stopped. Opening her eyes she saw him wiping his hand on his black jeans. She wanted to slap herself, she had landed in the dirt and he was just brushing it off. It wasn't like, before.

"Well either way, you're stuck here now. You know when you accept the letter you're bound by a magical contract?" He asked her, to which she shook her head. "Well think of it like a normal contract, only if you go against it; you'll probably die."

"Die…?"

"Yeah, you know. Not living anymore."

"I know what dying means!" She shouted, not really in the mood for jokes.

"Then why ask?" He countered.

Hermione was struggling for words, she had a headache and still felt a little sick. She wasn't in the mood for arguments. "I want to go home… To my dorm." She said quietly, her thoughts fixating on not being where ever it was she found herself in.

"Sure, but I'll have to win this first; but after that I don't see why not." He said nonchalantly and causing her to stare at him again.

"What do you mean, _you_ , have to win? The letter-"

Harry sighed. "Don't believe what the letter says, it probably said something like you're here to compete and you'll get a reward, right?" Hermione nodded. "Well the reward part is correct, money and fame and all that. Oh and you get a request, but the catch is only one of you get's the request. Oh, and it's not _you_ competing, necessarily. It's more like, can I keep you alive… Make sense?" He said with a bright smile.

She wanted to hit him.

After processing everything he had said she looked down at her muddy school skirt. "So I'm what, a fragile egg you have to carry to the finish line?"

"Huh?" He said, tilting his head in a confused manner.

"It's a metaph- Forget it. So I'm not going to do anything?" Hermione said, hoping she had sort of lucked out.

"Oh I wouldn't say you're not going to do anything.. Everything outside of this little area will want to kill you."

She hated how confident he sounded.

"But you're here to protect me, right?" She said, hoping his confidence also extended to her safety.

He shrugged. She wanted to hit him again.

"Well… I could, but it's not like I _have_ too. You supposedly get a reward for every task you keep your muggle alive. Which in turn makes the next task easier. So all in all, yeah keeping you alive would probably make the whole thing easier." He explained.

"Your muggle?" She felt silly for asking when he simply pointed at her.

Hermione couldn't take it anymore and let herself slide down the wall she was leaning against. A few tears ran down her face as she struggled to understand everything. It wasn't long until she started to cry. She was a piece of meat waiting to be killed, she was just a university student. She wasn't up to this. She was good at knowledge, books and working things out. She couldn't fight, she was a coward most of the time.

She was brought out of her crying when Harry spoke up again. She looked up through blurry eyes to see him sitting with his legs crossed in front of her.

"You know it's actually pretty interesting you're here with me."

"W-Why's that?" She said as she wiped furiously at her tears.

Harry jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, pointing upwards at the far end wall where the tunnel began. Above it, inlayed into the wall was a large intricately crafted lion's head with words underneath. Squinting she could just make out that it was latin. Hermione wondered what it could mean, Harry certainly thought it had significance. Thankfully he answered for her.

"That's Gryffindors symbol. It represents courage and bravery. That's why I thought it was interesting that you would be placed in this one. There's 3 other symbols, each with their own qualities; but it's not really important in your case." He said with a look of interest.

Hermione mulled this over as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. She wouldn't class herself as brave or courageous. Was there a symbol for people who liked reading and learning? That would be the one for her.

"But, isn't it just random? Being picked I mean." She asked, her eyebrows turning down in confusion.

Harry smiled. "To a degree, but the cup takes some things into account; or so I hear."

"Cup?" Hermione asked, wondering if he was talking about the Goblet of Fire that was mentioned in the letter.

"The Goblet of Fire, it's a incredibly powerful magical object. Pretty much runs the Tournament." He said and Hermione nodded in return, some sort of understatement sinking in.

"I feel like this is all a dream, and I'm going to wake up and I'll be in my dorm room at Harvard." She whispered, filled with uncertainty. "How… How hard is this going to be, exactly?"

Harry tapped his finger on his chin and thought for a moment. "Pretty hard I'd say. I think all of the last contestants died… Not sure, I didn't hear much about the last one to be honest."

Hermione stared at him, she didn't understand how someone could say that and keep a straight face. "You're strong though right? I mean, you know; lots of magic. That's what the letter said, that I would be paired with someone magically powerful." She asked, desperate for some confidence.

"Sure, I guess." Was all he said. Her shoulders slumped in defeat but was quickly pulled to her feet. Harry placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Don't worry about it, you'll be fine. First though, you'll need to change out of… Whatever it is you're wearing." He said, giving her a once over which caused Hermione to blush slightly.

"There's a chest," He pointed back to where Hermione had first landed in a heap. "Just over there, when the cup picks you it puts a whole bunch of clothes in there suited to the participants. I've already picked mine so go ahead and choose. I'll wait over here." He pointed up to the boulder he had been lying on before. Before Hermione could ask or say anything else he was already walking away, hands in his pockets and humming a tune she didn't recognise.

Deciding this was all too real to be a dream, and she just had to accept her fate she walked over to the large wooden chest. It wasn't anything fancy, simple oak wood with some bronze metal reinforcements. Opening the lid she saw there wasn't just clothes. There were some bags, all different shapes and sizes, some water flasks and also some food. She glanced a look back at Harry, who was sitting down on the ground again; facing the boulder. He didn't look like he had packed anything.

 _Guess I'll have too._ She thought.

She picked a medium sized rucksack, the others were a little big for her and had far too many pockets. Picking some items and clothes, which she noticed included underwear, she quickly stuffed them into the bag. A dark blue pair of jeans and a black cotton jumper that looked her size took her fancy and she glanced around at Harry again. Very quickly she stripped off her Harvard uniform and pulled the jeans and jumper on, feeling highly embarrassed but a whole lot more comfortable than her school uniform. The skirt and thin blouse didn't offer much in the way of protection from scrapes and bumps. Once she was happy with the items she had packed she walked slowly over to Harry.

"I'm done, Harry…" She said. Harry turned around and looked her over again. "Cool, we better get started then I guess." He said, giving a few glances to the rucksack on her back.

"O-Okay." Hermione replied with a nod of defiance. If she had to do this, she was going to put her best foot forwards and see it through; she had to trust the stranger before her that he was going to keep her safe.

"Hermione." Harry said, suddenly serious. "I'll be honest, I was hoping the muggle paired with me wouldn't show up. I wanted to take it easy, but now you're here… Well, let's just say it complicates things. I promise I'll protect you and you'll need to trust me." Hermione nodded, her hands a little shaky as she held the steps of her rucksack.

"A few rules, then. Always do what I say, even if it sounds stupid. Just do it, and you'll be fine; OK?" She nodded again. "Good, second one is never go anywhere without me. If you do, you'll die. And the last one, which is by far the most important… Do not trust anyone else in the Tournament, they will try and kill you the first chance they get. I won't lie and say this is easy, it's not. It's rare anyone even finishes, let alone wins."

She let his words sink in as she stared at her feet. She should be in Chemistry by now, ready to hand in her assignment she had spent the past week on. Instead she was in a strange place, with stranger things yet to happen.

"I promise. I'll do what you say if it get's me through this." She nervously replied, strangely coming to terms with her fate.

"Beyond that tunnel, could be anything. From traps to Dragons-"

"D-Dragons?!" She interrupted.

Harry ignored it and carried on. "-We stick together, we sleep together we do everything together. I mean it."

Hermione didn't want to admit it, but she was pretty scared of him when he talked that way, with authority and control. All her body and mind would let her do was nod to which he gave her a nod back.

He turned around, and Hermione noted a few scars on the back of his neck before he turned around and gave her a big smile.

"Let's go, we're an hour late."


	2. Chapter 2

**Trusting Useless Wizards**

Chapter 2

* * *

"Do you not need to bring anything?" Hermione asked, glaring at the back of the boy she was following. They had spent around half an hour walking through the tunnel, it seemed to twist and turn slightly to the point where she didn't know which direction they were actually heading anymore.

"Torch." He suddenly said in a deadpan voice.

Hermione jumped as a torch on a bracket attached to the wall suddenly came to life as they passed it. The first time had almost given her a heart attack and apparently Harry found it pretty funny. She wouldn't jump as much if he didn't keep saying it.

"And no, I'm a wizard; remember?" She could have sworn he was still laughing at her for jumping.

Grumbling to herself she readjusted her grip on the straps of her rucksack and looked over her shoulder as they walked. The torches seemed to extinguish as they got to the next one, leaving the tunnel behind them pitch black. She was honest with herself at least and could admit she was terrified. The only thing grounding her, was Harry.

Her rampant thoughts were cut short when she collided into a solid object.

"Ow! Hey why did you stop?" She asked, rubbing her nose and glaring at his shoulders.

She could see him looking down so she peeked around his frame so she could look too. She instinctively grabbed onto his arm and took a step back as she peered over the edge of a huge pit. A straight drop with no bottom in sight.

Her voice cracked a little as she took another step back, she hated heights. "W-what do we do now? Is this a puzzle or something?"

"Nah, doubt it. Well not in the sense you're probably talking about. Considering how it's the first obstacle then it's probably just a test of courage. Remember the symbol?" Harry said, looking around the tunnel and occasionally touching the walls.

"The lion that represents Gryffindor?"

"Mhm. That's the one, and do you remember what it stands for?" He asked, not paying her much attention as he crouched down on the edge of the drop.

Hermione stomach did an uncomfortable flip as she watched him.

"Courage and bravery right? Can't you just use magic or something, like a wizard should?" She asked.

 _That's a good question, why isn't he using magic?_

Her question was quickly answered. "No wand." Was all he said however.

"No wand- You're telling me you _can't_ do magic?!" Her yell echoed off the walls around them, making her feel nervous.

Harry stood and turned around to face her, his eyes seeming to shine in the darkness.

"I _can_ do magic, just not what I'm usually capable of. If I had a wand I could get us through this Tournament without a hitch. Unfortunately.. It's a requirement to hand over your wand on being selected. All the participants have too, it's just another test of strength."

 _I'm going to get killed._

Hermione's thoughts turned negative. She couldn't understand why anyone would willingly give up their life line to enter a tournament that was trying it's hardest to kill you.

"Hey! What are you-" Not able to finish her sentence she quickly grabbed his jumper trying to hold him back as he placed a foot over the edge. She expected to suddenly feel his weight pulling at his arms but instead he laughed. Hermione looked down at his foot and noticed it seemed to be floating on thin air.

"See?" He said, looking over his shoulder at her. "Just a stupid test of courage to slow us down. The other champions probably had something similar."

Hermione's heart couldn't take it and she let go of him. She watched as he slowly walked across the gap, walking on air. Once he made it to the other side he shouted over to her. "Right, your turn! Just walk at a steady pace, beleive you can do it and don't look down."

"I'm not courageous!" She retorted back.

Harry put his hands up, shrugging. "Just fake it then!"

Her heart beating faster than her books suggested was healthy she tentatively approached the edge. A few small rocks seemed to break off and tumble into the darkness below.

"I… I cant, I cant do it…"

"You can, it's simple; honest. Just… Here, just look at me and walk forwards. That's all you have to do."

 _Simple? Simple!? You just sodding walked across thin air you useless excuse for a wizard!_ She thought bitterly. Ever since she was little her fear of heights had been strong. Knowing it was an irrational fear, the danger being the impact and not the height didn't ever help her. The horrifying thought was that she didn't have a choice, she had to compete or she would die anyway.

"O-Ok. I'm coming over…" She looked up at Harry, and he was smiling encouragingly to her. Nervously, and very slowly she lifted a foot over the edge of the pit. A nervous sigh of relief flooded out of her as she felt a solid surface but she still didn't dare look.

With slow and deliberate steps she slowly made her way across while mumbling to herself.

"I hate this. I hate this. I hate this."

Just before she made it to the other side her brain betrayed her and she took a peek down. It completely threw her concentration on Harry and the solid feeling under her feet suddenly disappeared. She screamed as she dropped but Harry quickly caught her arms and pulled her towards him. With her feet now on actual solid ground she collapsed to the floor with heavy breaths and her legs shaking, the rucksack on her back resting against the wall.

"You OK?" He asked, crouching down in front of her.

She nodded, feeling sick. "Just, give me a moment."

"You did really well, I doubt most muggles could have done it. It's simple, but you really do have to _believe_ there's a floor there. That's why you dropped when you lost concentration." He said, trying to cheer her up.

"Thanks." Hermione said, a small smile tugging at her lips and she laughed nervously.

Harry pulled her to her feet and they set off again down the tunnel that never seemed to stop. "So," Hermione began, breaking the silence that had creeped up on them. "What kind of magic _can_ you do? Without a wand I mean." She asked.

"Hmmm. The odd thing here and there. Nothing fancy." Was all he said, seemingly concentrating on what was in front of him.

Hermione _really_ didn't understand this competition.

"Tell me a bit about yourself, I'm not a fan of the whole twenty questions."

"Me?" She said. "Well, er. I don't know… I like to read, I go to a university called Harvard. It's great! Although I don't _exactly_ have many friends, I go there to learn anyway. There's honestly not a lot to say. My lifes pretty tame..." She suppressed mentioning the thoughts of her horrible nightmares that often plagued her sleep and felt a shiver pass down her spine.

Harry smirked so she retaliated and shoved his shoulder from behind. It only caused him to laugh however.

"Simple is good. Makes it easier for me at least. Any fears I should know about? Like your fear of heights." He asked, glancing a look over his shoulder and her scowling expression.

"The entire Tournament?" She said sarcastically.

"Nothing else? Dragons, or huge snakes, monsters of any sort. Any of that?"

She looked at him as if he was stupid. "Harry.. _Anyone_ would be terrified of those."

"I wouldn't say they're that bad if you know how to deal with them. A lot of luck is involved too though I guess." He said, counting something under his breath with his fingers.

"You're not seriously telling me you've seen any of those?" She asked, wondering if she really had the worst luck and was partnered with a suicidal wizard. "And don't you dare just shrug again!"

He chuckled, but it sounded hollow. "I've had quite the life, so far at least."

Hermione opened her mouth to ask what that meant but decided not too. The way he said it, sounded painful. He didn't say anything after that and Hermione didn't push him, she knew what it was like. Whenever her mother tried to get information out of her, it was hard to talk about things sometimes. _Mum_. She thought, she couldn't tell her where she was, or what she was risking and _who_ she was risking it with. Some random, _magical,_ person that she never knew even existed in a strange place.

She wondered if she would ever see her again, she knew she should have sent more letters and maybe a bit more cheerful. She didn't think this would ever happen to her. It was her choice to accept the letter. At the back of her mind she was curious, the letter talked about magic. Maybe it was the escape she always needed, maybe she could make something of herself here. Show the world that Hermione Granger wasn't just a book worm.

She always struggled with thinking about herself.

Maybe he was like her, and they both shared a traumatic event in their past. He didn't seem the type though, at least to her. If anything he exuded confidence, so much so that it made _her_ a little uncomfortable. She was looking down at her feet and didn't seem to notice that the torch they had passed didn't flare to life.

"Ow!" She yelled, walking into the back of him for the second time. " _Will you stop doing that?_ " She said angrily, rubbing her already red nose. It was then that she noticed they were in darkness.

" _Lumos._ " She heard Harry say, wondering what on earth that meant when suddenly a small orb of glowing white light appeared, floating a few inches off the palm of his hand.

She stared at it. _Is this magic?_ She thought. It had to be, nothing in her world could produce this. Not able to take her eyes off of it her thought went wild with the fairytales she was told as a child. Her mother would read her one every night before bed and she always wished one day they would come true. They never did seem too, they always seemed to end in painful experiences. Of isolation and lack of confidence. Her thoughts turned darker still as she stood rooted to the spot.

Harry was looking forwards and behind them, trying to work out what was happening. He looked down at her and noticed the expression on her face. "We need to run." He said, but she didn't respond.

"Hermione!" He yelled. Snapping her out of her daze. "We need to run!" He said, his tone suggested there was danger but all she could seem to do was nod. Grabbing her hand she felt him pull her along the tunnel back the way they came.

 _What's wrong with me? Why can't I ever do what people expect._

"In here." Harry said, noticing a small alcove that didn't seem to have been there when they passed before. He gently pushed her forwards and into it. It wasn't very large, but big enough for a few people in a single file line. Sitting her on the floor and taking her hand and placing her palm upwards he looked into her eyes again before scrunching his own up in concentration. The small ball of light had long since disappeared, plunging them once again in darkness. It was slowly broken however as a new light appeared, it was blue this time and seemed to shine even without another light source. It slowly morphed into a small bird. "It's a Phoenix, it's the best I can do for now; but it'll keep you safe." He said.

Hermione hadn't really been listening to him, trapped in her own thoughts but as the light washed over her she felt the heavy feeling in her chest lift and she looked up at him. "Huh?" Was all she could make out as she stared at the palm of her hand where the small Pheonix sat. Simply glowing.

"No matter what. Stay. Here." He said quickly before leaving the alcove and running out of sight.

"W-Wait!" She tried to yell but it didn't come out loudly enough. Her head was still hazy and she couldn't remember how she got here, sitting down in a tight rocky alcove with a strange bird shaped light on her hand. "Hi.." She said weakly to the creature, she thought it moved but it must have been a trick of the light. Pulling her knees up towards her and wrapping one arm around them she waited.

Time seemed to pass by incredibly slowly. She simply sat there, wherever there was for her and watched the bird. _Phoenix, he said._ She watched the Phoenix and noticed it dimmed a few times but the light promptly came back, it worried her whenever it happened and she didn't know why. Warmth seemed to radiate from the light, slowly clearing her mind and soul.

 _When is Harry coming back? Where did he go? Why did he leave me with this?_

Those were the thoughts running through her head now. She kind of felt abandoned, like she was just in the way. _Maybe I am._ _I can't do magic like him, I'm just some bonus to keep alive._ "Don't think like that…" She whispered to herself.

It felt like an hour before Harry's body came crumbling into the alcove. He was breathing hard and there was a tear in his jeans where blood slowly trickled out.

"Harry!" She shouted in surprise. "Where were y-"

He raised his hand which silenced her, his other hand was holding his right side as he continued to breath heavily. "I need… I need a minute."

Hermione didn't say anything after that, but she was even more worried. Why was he so out of breath and how did he get that scrape on his leg? She waited patiently however, and slowly his breathing came back to normal and his head fell back to rest against the rough stone wall.

"I should have noticed sooner, I'm sorry." He said quietly, between breaths.

She didn't understand what he was talking about. "Notice what, and what _is_ this?" She held out her palm so it was level with his eyes. The phoenix vanished and was replaced instead by a small glowing orb of blue light. It was still warm, but nothing like when it had a shape.

"It was a Patronus, it's a spell." He said, his eyes still closed. "At that size, the most it could do was clear your head. It was my mistake, I forgot that muggles can't see them like we can. That and you've never felt it's effects before."

Hermione frowned at that. She couldn't see them? "See what, exactly?"

"Dementors." He said, his voice sounding cold and angry. "You mentioned dragons being monsters but there is a fine line between the two I think. A dementor will drain all of the happy memories and feelings from you, once they're bored they can suck out your soul… You'll live, but, you're better off dead."

She let his words sink in, wondering briefly what kind of life that would be like. _So you'd just be an empty shell? Do souls exist?_ For the first time, she was glad she had Harry here with her. Someone who could explain it all, to make the horrible feelings go away.

"And that light, it… Makes them go away?" She asked.

"A Patronus has two forms, one being in your hand and the other taking shape as an animal. Generally it's the bigger the better but not always. You can have a small Patronus and still be really strong. My mentor has one of the strongest I've ever seen, although we had a bit of a falling out actually… But that's not the point. That phoenix that was in your hand was as big as I can make it, without a wand; and I basically had to force my magic out of me to produce it. A real, strong Patronus, comes willingly and from the heart. Does that make sense?"

 _Not really, no._ She thought but instead, to comfort him as he looked pained she said the opposite. "Sure, it makes sense."

"Good, I'm knackered… I haven't run so much in awhile, you could say I'm a bit out of shape. Used to do it all the time in fact-"

Hermione listened as he seemingly droned on, wondering if he hit his head a little too hard. So there were things in this world she couldn't even see. Thinking about it, it made sense. If magic existed in the first place then anything was possible from her point of view.

"-You know there was this one time I had to fight this huge bear. Not your regular bear though, it was twice as big, huge _huge_ paws and claws that could slice and dice you."

"That's lovely Harry." She said automatically before closing her mouth sharply and glancing nervously at him.

He was smiling and didn't look angry. "I figured you weren't listening. I really am sorry, dementors can make you relive your worst thoughts or memories. Are you OK?"

She nodded and gave him a small smile.

"How come you're not affected?" She asked, curious if what he said was true then how on earth did he drag it away?

His smile dropped but he still didn't look angry. "I've had a fair amount of exposure to them, you could say I've built up a bit of a resistance. My mentor always said I do the most impossible things but there you go…"

"Mentor?"

"Oh, yeah; crazy old coot but scary powerful, you know?

Hermione shook her head, not understanding in the slightest.

"Doesn't matter. Look I don't want to worry you but I used a _quite_ a lot of magic maintaining that Patronus without a wand. Pretty sure I'm going to pass out soon." He said as if this was an everyday occurrence.

"Huh?" Hermione said, confused at what he meant. After she didn't get a response she leaned over towards him. "Harry?" She said and prodded his arm a few times but there was no reaction.

"Oh great." She said as the light in her hand slowly dimmed until they were both sitting in the dark. "Stuck in the dark, in a life threatening situation with a dried up wizard."

* * *

"Thank you, inspector. If you hear anything at all please call me immediately." Danielle Granger said to the man standing outside her front door. He gave her a sad nod before walking back over to his black car that was parked on the street in front of the house. She watched it go, the sinking feeling returning to her at the lack of news regarding her missing daughter. With nothing else to look at she closed the door and walked back into the living room.

She had spent the whole morning in the same position. Sat on the sofa with the phone on the coffee table in front of her. She had almost collapsed when the university rang her regarding and informed her that Hermione was missing. The police said they checked her dorm and found nothing, the only thing that looked out of place was a tiny pile of ash on the floor next to her bed. She didn't know what that meant.

Her thoughts drifted to things like the bullies at school, the letters she sometimes got where Hermione said she was thinking of quitting and coming home. It had always broken her heart when she received one, she always tried to help her daughter. To give her advice and not to give up. She hoped something hadn't gone to far. She couldn't lose another member of her family.

A light knock on the door made her jump and she quickly dashed to the front door. "Inspector?" She said automatically, assuming it was him back with some news already. She was brought up short when she noticed the man in front of her. He worse a regular navy blue suit but he looked incredibly old. His white hair and long white beard ruining the business look he was supposedly going for.

"Can I help you?" She said nervously, she was on edge and didn't want any trouble.

"Mrs. Granger, I assume? My dear I hope it is I who can help _you._ " He said with a smile.

Her eyes widened at the reply. "My daughter? Is this about Hermione?" She asked, to which he nodded. "Could we perhaps talk inside? I'm afraid the cold isn't to good on the old bones these days."

"Of course, of course. Please, come in." She said, ushering him inside and pointing down the hall towards the living room. Quickly shutting the door she following him in and took a seat opposite him.

As she sat down, she could have sworn she saw something slide up his sleeve and the air seemed to shimmer for a second. "Do you have any information my daughter, Mr…?"

"Oh, how rude of me." He said, standing up to shake her hand. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, I'm currently headmaster at Hogwarts."

At first Danielle thought he said Harvard. "Hogwarts?" She asked but he dismissed it.

"It's of no importance. Now, about your daughter, I would have come earlier but it's been terribly difficult to get information from the Ministry these days… I'm sort of embargoed you see."

Danielle simply stared at him, her mouth hanging open slightly as nothing he said made sense or related to her daughter. _Is he just a crazy person?_ She thought worriedly.

Dumbledore coughed and his tone turned serious. "Miss. Granger is currently a participant in the Tri Wizard Tournament. Strictly speaking, I shouldn't be talking to you about this but I've always argued that if they were to go ahead with this the families had the right to know."

She had to stop him there. "I'm sorry… What? Tournament, wizards… What are you talking about? Hermione went missing from Harvard, it's a university."

"I'm well aware of your daughters circumstances Mrs. Granger but please allow me to continue, I'll be happy to answer any of your questions afterwards."

She nodded so Dumbledore continued. "First you must know about magic," He pulled his wand from his sleeve and noticed Danielle tightened her fights and sat up straighter. With a flick of his wand tiny orbs of light in a variety of colours danced around the room. "Is that it very much exists."

Danielle stood up in panic, looking around the room and at the small orbs of light. When she realised the old man wasn't moving but smiling from his seat she sat back down and continued to look at the lights, she even tried to touch a few as they slowly drifted past. "Is this real?" She asked softly.

"More than you could possibly imagine my dear. This is no more than a party trick however." He replied.

"Why should I believe you?" She said seriously, looking back at the man. It could be a trick for all she knew.

Instead of replying Dumbledore withdrew a small photo from his inside pocket and handed it over the table. Danielle took it and quickly clasped a hand over her mouth from shouting. It was her daughter, Hermione. She was wearing her Harvard uniform but she couldn't place her location. There were rocks in the background, a small sort of grassy plain with huge stone walls. "That's Hermione…" She whispered. She was talking to a boy, who looked her age. He hard untidy black hair and bright green eyes. "But what about-"

"Ah. Now that would relate to me I imagine. The young man in the picture with your daughter is Harry Potter." He said, his smile diminishing but not disappearing. "He's is my apprentice, of sorts. Between you and me, I'm pretty furious he joined the Tournament but he's his father's son alright. He is now your daughter's companion, he is a wizard; like me."

"So he can do… All this?" She said, motioning to the orbs of light. "Oh yes, and much more. To be honest with you Mrs. Granger I'm happy to say your daughter probably has the highest chance of surviving."

Danielle had to process his last comment a few times before it sunk in. "What do you mean 'survive'?" She asked, dreading the answer.

Pushing his half moon glasses further up his nose Dumbledore gave her a grave look. "I'm sorry to say but the Tournament is no more than a death game. Designed to test the 4 wizards, the fatality rate is exceedingly high. Most of the participants don't make it out alive."

She couldn't say anything as she listened, he hand over her mouth. _My daughter is in this?_ A tear rolled down her cheek and she pictured the horror of her daughter's death. She was smart, but not 'fight to the death in a deadly game' sort of smart. She even hated gym class when she was younger.

"I tried to petition the cancellation of the Tournament for many decades, but due to some circumstances I no longer hold a position of influence at the Ministry. I do however try my best to locate the families of those involved, like yourself, and to warm them of what has happened." Dumbledore said solemnly.

This was too much for Danielle who couldn't stop her tears falling. "There's still a chance she'll live, right?" She managed to get out between sobs.

"If anyone can keep your daughter safe Mrs. Granger, it's Mr. Potter. I can certainly vouch for that."

"But he's just a boy, why is he even participating?"

Dumbledore smiled at those words. "I assure you, he is well up to the task. I honest believe he's not really taking the Tournament all that seriously. As for _why_ he put his name in the Goblet, I have some theorys. None that I like."

"It's not compulsory? But, why is Hermione there… She'd never willingly do it…" As she said those thoughts out loud she realised that her daughter probably would go along with it. She knew she was having a hard time at the school and with everything that's happened maybe she wanted the escape. "I can't believe this…"

"It is unfortunate. In the magical world, we're capable of watching and listening to the event. As you cannot I will try to keep you informed as best as I can. They will have to be discreet visits, including this one. Technically the muggle world is not to know about us." He said, standing up and all the orbs of light faded out of existence.

"What about the investigation? The police are looking for her-"

Dumbledore held a hand up and smiled. "I have already taken care of that. Thank you for your time and patience Mrs. Granger." He bowed slightly and walked back to the front door with her trailing behind. "I'm sorry to cut things short, but they're not to know I've been you see and I can't be away from my school for very long."

Danielle was struggling to form words as he stood on the doormat outside. "T-Thank you, for everything you said. Can I keep this?" She asked, holding up the moving picture of her daughter.

"By all means, but do not leave it out in public view perhaps?" He said with a twinkle in his eyes. "Until we meet again Mrs. Granger."

And before she could finish blinking he was gone, leaving her standing with the door open to no one. For the third time that day she slowly closed the door and walked inside. She didn't bother going into the living room again, but headed for the kitchen. A few minutes rummaging around in a cupboard she pulled out an old dusty wine bottle. Grabbing a glass from the glass cabinet, she poured herself a most of a glass and slid down the wall to sit on the hard kitchen floor. She studied the photo of her daughter but couldn't quite work out if they boy in front of her was able to protect her.

 _Who is he?_

* * *

Hermione woke up uncomfortable and with a slight headache. The rucksack she was leaning on was now squashed against the rock behind her. She could feel a few objects pushing into her back. Nervous that she fell asleep and wondering what they were doing there still caused her head to hurt a little more. Trying to shift her arm to adjust her position and sit up a little she noticed she couldn't quite move it.

Looking down at her right arm she noticed it was pinned between her leg and the wall. Another look and she saw a head of black untidy hair resting on her leg as he slept soundly. Blood rushing to her face she turned bright red. Her legs were slightly spread out, as far as they could be in the narrow alcove and Harry was resting between them on the inside of her thigh, apparently oblivious to his sleeping arrangement.

Her senses finally returning to her, and bright red in the face she raised her left fist and hit him squarely in the head. "Hey!" She yelled angrily.

Harry woke up groaning and clutching his head. "Is this how you wake everyone up you sodding lunatic?"

"Well maybe next time realise where you're sleeping!" She shouted again and tried to push him, he was a lot heavier than she thought he would be. "Will. You. Move!"

Harry finally, after the concussion wore off, moved to lean against the wall. It was a cramped position and he glared at Hermione. "Next time a light nudge will do." He ignored Hermione's grumble of "There won't be a next time.".

"Look you fell asleep first I'll have you know, and it's dark; I thought I was just laying on your ankles or something." He mumbled, rubbing the back of his head again.

Hermione glared back, not believing him for a second. " _Anyway_ , what time is it?" She asked, knowing her body clock was probably out of whack. Harry only shrugged. She hit him.

"What's with you hitting me all the bloody time?"

"Stop shrugging at everything! You're a wizard, find out the time!" She said, she wasn't quite sure why she was so angry. Probably because she was essentially stuck in a hole with someone she wasn't exactly fond of at the moment.

"Just because I can do magic doesn't mean I can just summon a watch, there's more to it then that. I need a wand for starters."

 _Here we go with the wand talk again._

Hermione let her head fall back in defeat but immediately regretted it when it hit the hard surface of the rock. Harry smiled at her discomfort so she glared at him again. "We should keep moving though. We're probably quite far behind the other champions and we haven't gotten through this task yet." He said, standing up and brushing the dust and loose stones off himself. Hermione did the same, once she had unwedged the rucksack.

"What's so important about having a wand anyway?" She asked as they both extracted themselves out of the alcove. Harry helping her through.

"If you start to feel like you did yesterday tell me as soon as you can. I lured it to another part of the tunnel but you never know, it could come back. And to answer your question, a wand helps a witch or wizard channel they're magic. I honestly don't understand it all that much to be honest." He replied, scanning the corridor.

She noticed how he seemed to be standing in front of her whenever he checked things out. Her earlier anger at him ebbed away slowly, and she reminded herself that he was her lifeline. They walked further and further into the tunnel, she kept a close eye on the torches as they sprang to life. It wasn't long until they came across another obstacle.

"A door?" She said, standing next to Harry. "I suppose it's not _just_ a door though, right?"

"Probably." Harry replied, checking the door.

He seemed to move his hand along the face of it, stopping and closing his eyes a few times as if expecting something. After a solid ten minutes her initial curiosity was rapidly dwindling.

"Er, what exactly are you doing Harry?" She asked skeptically.

He didn't reply, but continued to essentially rub his hand along the door. Hermione simply stood there with her arms crossed, feeling nervous. They had stood still too long and she didn't like it. After what happened with the dementor she felt like the whole death aspect of the Tournament was highly real, and they weren't messing around.

"Oh." Harry suddenly said, making her jump.

"Oh?"

"It's crude, but something I've seen before. There's a difference though."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at his amazing ability to not explain anything the first time around. "What's the difference, and while you're explaining that part tell me the rest." She said crossly.

She noticed he looked a little uncomfortable. "Well you see, it's just a simple door. Nothing to really worry about, but it requires a payment; of sorts." He said.

"Well let's just pay it then?"

"It need's blood." He said, worried.

Strangely enough Hermione wasn't that surprised. "You're the wizard, summon up some blood or something then."

"I need your blood, Hermione."

"Sorry, what?" She asked, wondering if she didn't hear him correctly

Harry sighed and took a step towards her. Hermione instinctively took a step back. "It need's non-magical blood. Remember I told you about how the Tournament rewards you for keeping your muggle alive? This is a small one, but it proves the point. While I was running around before there were multiple routes we could take through this tunnel. This is probably a shortcut, of sorts." He explained. It did make sense, she didn't like it still however.

"Ok fine. How do I give you some of my blood. We don't have any needles or a way to sterilize it." She said, mentally double checking what she had packed in her rucksack. Harry was looking at her with a blank expression on his face, like he didn't understand a word she just said. Sighing she thought of a different way to explain the tools people in her world used to extract blood. Harry beat her to the punch and spoke first.

"The door isn't anything special," He looked around at the rough stone of the tunnel wall. Just scrape your hand down one of these walls and then place your hand on the door. It'll open."

Hermione paled slightly. She didn't like pain, she remembered falling over at the playground as a kid. "You're sure that's all I have to do?" She asked, realising there was no other way if what Harry said was true.

He nodded. "I've had to do it before." He said and Hermione desperately wanted to ask him why. "This part here will probably do." He pointed towards a particularly sharp piece of rock face.

Walking up to it she lifted her shaky hand and placed it against the cold, moist rock. She looked back at Harry with and he nodded. _It'll just be a scratch, it's not like you're going to bleed out or anything. Pluck up some courage Granger._ She put as much pressure as she could on her hand and quickly dragged her hand down the rockface. Wincing as she felt a few cuts form on her hand. It hurt more than she thought it would and her eyes felt moist as she quickly walked back to the stone door and placed her hand where Harry told her too.

Almost immediately a red border appeared on the door, outlining it from the other rock faces around it. There was a loud _clunk_ and the door drifted open. Harry pushed it further open and peered around it, checking for dangers. Once it was clear they were fine for the time being he turned back around and checked her hand. Her palm was cut in multiple places, and small beads of blood were appearing on the surface. "It's not to bad. Well done, by the way. He moved his thumb over some of the deeper cuts and she winced. I've got pretty good self healing and with no wand we'll have to do it the slow way."

He held her damaged hand lightly in his own. "My magic will slowly flow into your hand and hopefully heal it." She nodded and Harry led them both through the door to continue down the tunnel. She couldn't wait for it to end.

"I hate this stupid thing." She said, sniffing and wiping the tear off her cheek.

"I know, I know."


	3. Chapter 3

**Coming to Terms**

Chapter 3

* * *

Hermione thought she could hear running water and it wasn't the first time. They had been walking for quite a while without coming into contact with any monsters or puzzles. She guessed Harry was right about the fact that their door had been a shortcut of sorts. Always one to try and think ahead however she realised it was a little _too_ easy. Harry had, for the most part, been silent as he walked beside her; his hand gentle grasping her own. The stinging pain had subsided and she could feel the dry blood crack on her skin as they moved.

She looked over her shoulder again, a cold chill making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Hey… Harry?" She asked, pulling his hand down a little to get his attention.

He looked around at her. "What's up?"

"Can you hear that? I keep thinking I can hear water but maybe I'm imagining it…" Unfortunately she was cut short and cursed herself for speaking out loud, as if she had jinxed it. The sound of rushing water was getting louder and louder now and they both picked up the pace, jogging as the sounds got louder behind them.

"How good are you at swimming?" She heard him yell as they now ran full sprint down the dark tunnel. She almost tripped a few times on loose rock and dirt but thankfully she kept upright.

"I haven't been to the pool in years!" She spat back, clearly afraid. Never having been a particularly confident swimmer she was going to have to put it to the test.

Harry was ahead of her, almost pulling her along by her hand as they ran. He was clearly far fitter than she was, she had good arm strength mainly from carrying around heavy books but that was about it. She had very little stamina. While he hadn't looked overly built she had quickly noticed the firm grip of his hand, the rough calluses, all signs of work.

And then it hit them.

It felt like someone had shoved her _hard_ in the back as the torrent of water crashed over them, filling the tunnel. The force that slammed into her knocked a lot of the breath out of her and she wanted to yell out. _Would they seriously drown us?_ She thought as she felt Harry tighten his grip on her hand and pull her through the water. She couldn't see anything as the water extinguished the torch on the wall and her arms and legs scraped against the wall as she tried to orientate herself. Her more pressing issue was the fact she hadn't had the time to take a larger breath of air. Harry's face was suddenly illuminated in front of hers and in her panic a few more bubbles of air escaped the confines of her mouth. The small glowing orb of light was back, floating a few inches from him in the water. His eyes seemed to drill into hers, as if he was assessing her situation.

She felt a horrible convulsion in the pit of her stomach as they were pushed down the tunnel by the fast flowing water. Running out of breath and starting to panic she tried to think of ways out. _There must be a way out, it wouldn't be down the corridor; no one could hold their breath that long. So there must be a way out to the side of above._ A few more air bubbles escaped as her stomach sent a sharp pain through her body and she felt Harry's hands on either side of her face. Her sharp brain instantly knew what he was going to do, she had read about it enough in the few romance books she had read.

He eyes went wide, stinging them as the water seemed to seep in and she shook her head frantically, her hair swaying in the water. Harry rolled his eyes and pinched her nose closed and pressed his lips to her own. She resisted at first but as she felt the air flow into her lungs she stopped struggling and concentrated on not letting it back out. Harry nodded, nonverbally asking if she was ok to last and she nervously nodded back. She didn't know if she was a little light headed from the lack of oxygen or what was technically her first kiss.

There was no time to think about it as her arm was yanked forwards, Harry was swimming and once again pulling her along. She hated feeling useless but there was literally nothing she could really do in this situation, hell she was surprised Harry wasn't panicking as much as she was. What could magic do for you in a situation like this? She tried to concentrate on kicking her feet and watching the small orb of light that floated just in front of Harry's head. If she tried to concentrate on her breathing too much she knew it would backfire.

They soon stopped as she noticed Harry seemed to be fumbling with something so she stopped kicking her legs and she slowly drifted into him, placing a hand on his arm to keep some distance and stop her from drifting away. Whatever he was doing she couldn't see but if she had to guess it looked like he was uncoiling something in the water. Her gaze was brought down to where his feet were, or at least what she thought were his feet. A faint glow seemed to emanate from them and she decided it must be how he wasn't floating away. _He's anchoring himself with some magic?_ His arms were suddenly under hers and he pushed her up and her head broke the water, her body desperately inhaling as much of the fresh oxygen as she could. She grabbed onto the thick rope that hung into the water and moved her hands slightly lower so Harry could hold it too.

Looking at each other, a rope in between them and a corridor full of water below them Harry laughed. "That was a close one, good thing you heard it." He said. She wondered how much better their situation could have been if she spoke up earlier.

Hermione laughed nervously in reply and nodded. "What do we do now, climb?" She asked.

"Unless you fancy testing your breath again?" To which she shook her head. "Ladies first then."

Pushing the wet hair out of her face she gingerly pulled herself up the rope. The fibers hurt her recently healed hand, the skin still tender and the weight of her water logged clothes made her feel twice as heavy. A few times she slipped but Harry was always there to steady her.

After a short while her head hit something solid, nearly causing her to lose her grip and fall.

"Ouch!" She yelled, rubbing her head instinctively before replacing her hand on the rope in fear of falling. Harry's orb of light floated a little higher and she could make out the shape of the trapdoor. Pushing on the large metal ring it wouldn't budge. "I think it's locked!" She called down to Harry.

Harry moved around the rope and started to pull himself up until he was level with her. She wondered how many more embarrassing moments she was going to have until she either died or lived through this hellish event.

She watched as he held onto the large metal ring. " _Alohomora!"_ He said confidently and there was an audible _click_ from the trapdoor. Together they both helped with pushing the heavy wood open and had to quickly to look away as a bright light flooded the shaft they were in, desperately holding on to the now wet rope. Harry pulled himself up once he'd gotten used to the sudden bright light, using the edge of the trapdoor to leverage himself out. Once he was on even ground he reached down and helped pull Hermione out.

Collapsing onto their knees the pair breathed in and out sharply. They sat there for a few minutes, just thankful to be out of the tunnel.

"Where are we now?" Hermione asked once she'd gotten her breath back. Her legs and arms ached and the wet clothes were uncomfortable too. Looking around she took a guess and thought they were in some sort of large chamber. Straight up was a huge collection of crystals pulsing with a bright white light, flooding the chamber with glittering light.

Harry looked around too, coming to the same conclusion. "A chamber, although I don't know what those crystals are. They're full of magic though." He said, staring up at them.

"You can tell?"

"To a certain degree, sure. I was taught at a pretty young age how to identify it. I'm not the best though."

Hermione had so many questions she wanted to ask him but again, the time didn't feel right. Harry stood up and took another look around the chamber, there were a few small rooms that split from the main area they were in. Large pillars created a circle in the center where a shallow pool of water congregated.

Peering into one of the room he saw some pieces of furniture that looked far more dated than it should be. Glad for somewhere to rest he checked the other room. "Oh, looks like a small bathroom if you wanted to-" Hermione's rucksack was thrust into his chest as she sprinted past him, slamming the door closed behind her. He didn't realise she could move so fast.

Harry simply resorted to sitting down on the ground, legs spread out in front of him and his back leaning against the wall next to the bathroom. He didn't think the Tournament would be this rough an they were barely into the first task. His reasons for joining weren't the best but he had hoped to just cruise through it. Granted he also had to get Hermione through it as well. It was proving more stressful than he was letting on.

The door opened quickly and Hermione, less flustered but still wet poked her head out and looked around. Noticing him on the floor she reached out and grabbed the bag before disappearing back into the bathroom and closing the door. _I lucked out with this one, real charmer._ He thought but smiled nonetheless.

Eventually Hermione back came out. "Can you dry these?" She asked him. Harry looked back up at her, noticing she was wearing a different pair of jeans and top but they were damp. Most likely from where her bag had gotten wet. It had done a good job and keeping some things that dry at all.

"It'll take quite a while and I'd basically have to hug you the entire time, but sure." He said with a smirk.

Hermione huffed and sat down next to him. "I'll stay damp for a while, thanks." So far this whole 'magic' business hadn't impressed her all that much. She was still amazed it had existed for so long and not knowing about it but she had expected, more. Harry argued that if he had a wand he could wipe the floor with the Tournament but she honestly wondered how much better he would be.

"How are you holding up?" Harry asked beside her, noticing she was deep in thought.

She was still pretty pale and her hair was a mess but she was alive. "Alright, considering we nearly drowned-" She had to repress the memory of what happened before her cheeks flushed. "-and anyway what kind of bathroom is that? Look's like it's about a hundred years old." She said trying to change the subject.

He laughed and she briefly wondered if he was laughing at her, knowing what she had remembered. "You'll find in the magical world we're still really far behind you muggles. Some say we're stuck in our ways. I don't really have an opinion on it, I just like the quiet."

"Then why join a tournament?" She countered.

His face softened at that, and she wondered if there was a nerve she struck. "Well, let's just say it was a difference in opinion… And I wanted to get away from someone, too." He fumbled his words, looking around the small chamber.

"Who could you possibly want to get away from that you'd join a death tournament?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

He scratched his cheek and played with a few stray strands of fabric on his torn jeans. "Well… She's kind of supposed to be my fiance…"

"What?!" Hermione shouted, not able to stop herself. "You're in this stupid thing because you don't want to get married?! Why didn't you just say no!"

He seemed to get a little angry from that. "Hey! Life isn't black and white you know, things aren't always that simple!

Hermione wanted to retort but thought better of it, he was right. She didn't know him, or what his situation outside the Tournament was like. It could have been forced on him, or he was doing it for some money to help his family. "And what was the other reason then?" She decided to ask instead.

"Ah. He said I shouldn't do it, and we had a bit of an argument."

She stared at him, her earlier pity now gone. "You're an idiot."

"Then why did you enter? You could have ignored the summons." He said, not wanting to be in the spotlight.

Caught by surprise she realise she didn't exactly have an answer to it. "I'm not… Honestly sure. School, university I mean; is hard."

"You can't do it?" He asked.

"It's not the work that's hard!" She replied loudly and pouted a little. "I don't have many… Friends."

Harry nodded his head, although she didn't understand why. "How many? Even one is fine-" He stopped talking when he noticed that she was slowly turning red and staring at her crossed legs.

"I see."

"D-Don't comment! I don't need friends, they get in the way of studying anyway." She had always told herself that it was a valid excuse. But she knew deep down it was wrong.

"Everyone needs at least one friend Hermione. Here, tell you what. I'll be your friend, how's that?" He said with a smile and patted her shoulder. It made her feel a bit small, but at the same time she was a little happy. She wasn't going to tell him that though. "It's difficult. I'm not the best, at making friends."

She thought Harry was the confident type, where people flock to him but she was surprised when he spoke up. "We must be pretty similar then. I'm not all that great at making friends either. Throughout school, it was touch and go a lot of the time if I'm honest. I didn't know who wanted to actually be my friends or just for knowing my name."

Hermione frowned at that. "Are you famous or something?" she asked and noticed he flinched a little at the word.

"Sort of, my family name is pretty old so we go back quite far apparently. People want me to be something, and they tend to lash out if I don't. It's not too bad though, comes with a lot of perks." He shrugged and continued to play with his jeans. "It hasn't been easy though that's for sure, each year got more difficult with it's own fair share of… surprises." He laughed but it was hollow.

The pair didn't say anything after that. Hermione shifted a few times where she sat, the damp clothes feeling uncomfortable against her skin. Harry didn't seem to care and she thought perhaps he had said a little too much. From what she could tell he seemed to be the silent type for the most part. Looking up at the crystals she wondered what they were going to do from there.

* * *

A loud knock reverberated off the large oak door to the headmaster's office at Hogwarts.

"Enter." Dumbledore called from the inside, sitting at his elegant desk with some open scrolls of parchment taking up most of the space aside from a few books stacked on the corner.

The door swung open and a young woman entered. "And what can I do for you Miss. Greengrass?" Dumbledore asked as she stormed towards his desk and slammed a copy of the Daily Prophet down on his desk.

"I'm gone for a week! One week! And he's competing in the Tri Wizard Tournament?! Why would you agree to this?" She yelled, pointing at the large print on the front page.

Dumbledore looked down at the paper which he had already seen. The news had come as a surprise to him too, along with most of the wizarding world. Why would Harry, after defeating Voldemort end up competing in the Tournament. Most assumed he wanted a quiet life, he had certainly made it clear that's what he wanted as well. Rarely out in public, to avoid the stares, admirers and press he would keep to himself.

Daphne Greengrass was one of Harry's only friends. An uncommon friendship at school the pair quickly hit it off when he rescued her from a dementor in his third year. The memory still horrifies him. Daphne had always been curious in her studies, to the point where she wanted to see one clearly. If Harry hadn't appeared when he did, she could have died. After that they became quite close but Daphne always seemed more interested in the relationship than Harry had.

"It was a surprise to me aswell, Miss. Greengrass. Please, have a seat." He gestured to the large, plush chair before his desk.

Daphne slumped into the chair and crossed her arms, glaring at the old man but Dumbledore continued to smile.

"I do believe I am some what to blame however. We had a disagreement on what he's going to do with himself now, career wise and I fear I may have stepped out of line. As his guardian and mentor I thought I was speaking for the best, however I've come to realise I may have been pushing my own agenda onto him."

"So it's your fault he entered that stupid thing?" She asked with another glare.

He chuckled and placed the quill that was in his hand onto the desk. "That decision was made by Harry. He brought it up as a joke I believe. I commented that it would be wrong to enter, that he may not be prepared for the consequences. He appears to have taken it as a challenge." He explained, it did something to appease the young woman in front of him. "I must say he's doing very well however. He is also protecting Miss. Granger very admirably".

"Granger?" Daphne said, suddenly interested. "Who's she?"

"You understand how the Tournament works I assume?" He asked, she waved her hand at him. Confirming she knew all about it.

"Well Miss. Granger is a muggle. Very smart I might add. She was paired with Harry when she accepted her summons."

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him. "And how do you know so much about her?" She knew about all the rules surrounding the Tournament. Her father worked at the ministry and had often told them about the planning for it.

"Let's call it a wizards intuition Miss. Greengrass." Dumbledore said with another smile.

He wouldn't usually allow the behaviour she was showing, usually the students or adults seemed to fear him. Or hold him in high esteem, not so much nowadays but it was still noticeable. Considering the situation he simply ignored it however. Her father was pushing for marriage, ever since he had found out how close they were. The pair were quite secretive for a while, only really coming out into the open after Voldemort's downfall and Harry's recovery. He suspected Daphne was feeling nervous and insecure about the whole affair but was going along with what her father wanted.

 _Harry_ on the other hand. Obviously wasn't thrilled with the idea. The fact he didn't tell his fiancee that he entered was proof of that. He was stressed lately, what with the Ministry pressure and his continued studies.

"And this… _Muggle,_ he's protecting her?" She asked.

Dumbledore nodded, steepling his hands in front of him. "Correct. They're working together brilliantly so far. The next update on the Tournament comes out tomorrow, we'll know more then."

Daphne thought about it all, she was angry; that was for sure. But now she felt something else. _Am I jealous?_ She asked herself. Harry had been acting pretty strange recently, keeping to himself a lot or spending large amounts of time with Dumbledore but she hadn't thought to much of it. He was stressed, that was pretty obvious but she had been trying to help with it.

 _No. She's just a muggle, he couldn't possibly see anything in her. He loves me._

Her words bounced around in her head as she thought about what to do. "When does it end?" She asked, finally looking up at Dumbledore.

"All champions are required to finish, or as the term goes, die trying. I suspect it will be quite a while longer yet. They have barely made it through the first task and there are many more to go." Daphne huffed in response. "Not to be rude, Miss. Greengrass, but if that is all I fear I've no more to tell you than what you already know. I don't dare presume what Harry wants these days. It's foolish to try."

Letting out a defeated sigh she stood up, smoothing her light blue dress as she did. "I'm sorry for barging in sir. I'm not quite sure what to think of the whole thing. It's not something he'd just jump into." She said but she knew better than most that it was the opposite. She was just trying to console herself.

"My dear, we both know that it's _exactly_ the kind of thing he would do. I doubt he'll be thinking that however once he finished and the press are in front of his house more than they currently are." Dumbledore said, chuckling light heartedly.

Daphne was confident in his abilities, but worried about his state of mine. "You'll think he'll make it through, then?" She asked the wizard, trying to keep the worry from her voice.

"While I don't agree with what he's done. I certainly hope so, I've a few bets at the Hog's Head that he wins." The old wizard said, beaming over his half moon spectacles.

 _Well I at least know where Harry got some of his craziness from._ She thought as she left the office, closing the heavy wooden door behind her.

Dumbledore let out a large sigh when the door closed. Daphne was a bright witch, one of his best pupils in the years he had thought and run the school. Yet he didn't believe she was what Harry wanted. They both got along brilliantly, throughout school during all the terrible things that often happened to him, she had always stood by him and kept him grounded. Being his mentor was difficult, it required looking at his life from an outside point of view while trying to be fair and a family figure. Someone he could trust and rely on. They had had their fare share of bumps in the road. He had to quickly come to terms with not keeping secrets from him. He still struggled but Harry seemed to always find out one way or another, it was best if they came from the source with the answers to any of his questions.

Looking down at his desk and at the collection of picture frames that littered a corner of his desk, visible to only himself he smiled to one in particular. Lily was sitting down on the floor of their country house with James' arms wrapped comfortably around her. Baby Harry was clutched in her arms while his hands tried desperately to grab a few locks of her long hair.

"My friends, what have I let him get himself into this time."

* * *

Hermione jolted awake, a trickle of water slid down her back where she leant against the wall. Thought's of what happened beneath the trapdoor still fresh in her mind. She hadn't realised she had fallen asleep and looking around the chamber it looked noticeable less bright. Glancing upwards at the crystals she noticed some seemed to have dimmed. It was a nice effect and she wondered if it represented a clock of sorts. She had no means to tell the time, if only she had worn her watch that day.

A soft breath on her neck made her flinch and she looked around quickly but got a mouthful of hair. Harry was leaning comfortably against her, fast asleep. Was he always a heavy sleeper? Her clothes felt noticeably drier and possibly because of how close they were. He had said that for an extended amount of time she would probably get drier. Did magic flow out of people, was that normal? When he had healed her hand it felt tingly but she couldn't feel anything now.

"How did I get myself into this mess." She said out loud, her quiet voice echoing slightly off the chamber walls, bouncing around the pillars that formed the circle in the center. She was still struggling to process everything that had happened, still waiting to wake up from her dream. A dream where magic was real, monsters and spells were common day things. A true fantasy setting. Her thoughts drifted to what would happen is they actually made it out alive. Would they erase my memory and stick me back into my world? Could they do that? She certainly thought it was possible, from what she had seen.

It was then that her eyes landed on a plinth, in the center of the pillars. _Was that always there?_ She had rushed into the small bathroom, or what could barely be described as one, and not given the chamber all that much thought before falling asleep. From her position on the floor she could see something placed on top, but she couldn't quite make out what.

Glancing back at Harry she made up her mind and slowly extracted herself from him, gentle propping his head down onto her rucksack. She didn't want to wake him, he looked so peaceful. Almost happy, it was strange.

The other reason was that she wanted him to be in the best shape he could be, she didn't want to die.

Pushing herself off the ground her legs protested, all the walking, running and swimming had really done a number on her legs which up until this point had only carried her from her dorm to classes and the library. All with avid breaks in between.

She walked quietly towards the pillars, not really understanding while she felt nervous. Was it part of the task, or just a reward? As she got closer she noticed the object, it was thin and made of wood.

"A wand?" She said out loud again. _Could this be what he's been after all this time?_ If he had it, he could do real magic; like he said he could. They would finish the remaining tasks quickly and she would be back in her world sooner than she thought. It was all positive, she had finally lucked out.

She stepped closer, edging her way towards the plinth in the center. She hadn't noticed Harry stirring, a cold shiver having woken him. His blurry vision making her out a little ways away from where he was lying. When the sleepy haze cleared enough to make out what she was doing he sat bolt upright.

"Wait, stop!" He yelled loudly, holding his hand out as if to grab her. But it was too late.

Her hand had grasped the wand and the ground and ceiling started to shake. Hermione froze in fear as the crystals on the ceiling started to move. Some crushed into fine dust completely while others seemed to group together, forming small limbs. Her eyes went wide as the creature slammed to the ground in front of her. A huge mass of crystals, small legs allowing it to stand and 2 huge, lumpy arms made from the same crystals extended from the body. It's bright blue eyes, that resembled tiny balls of flame stared back into her before letting off a bellowing roar and lunging for her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Closing Distances**

Chapter 4

* * *

A strong force pulled at her back as she was sent flying backwards towards where Harry was. Her arm hitting one of the pillars heavily on passing and almost knocked the wand clutched in her hand away. She almost didn't register what was happening, it was as if everything was happening in slow motion. Her body flying backwards, away from the huge crystal creature.

Her body hit Harry hard, the wind being knocked out of him. The force pushed her head further back and the back of her head slammed into his. Her vision went blurry and she could feel a distinct sickening sensation in the pit of her stomach. Harry was yelling at her, but she couldn't quite make out what he was saying. It was as if a grenade had gone off in the same room, the shockwave having caused her hearing to distort or stop altogether.

She could just make out colourful lights appearing before her as she stared horrified at the monster. It was trying to claw at something now, was it trying to get to them? Her brain was going backwards and forwards, not sure what to be thinking about. It finally settled on what was stopping the thing.

A shadow suddenly appeared over her, blocking her view of the monster as it tried to get to them. It's large crystal arms slamming into something she couldn't see. "-ione, Hermione!" She looked up at the voice and realised the person casting the shadow was Harry as he stood before her. It actually hurt to try and concentrate on him. She saw him raise his hand, at least that's what she thought, and a pale green light washed over her.

It was like night and day. What was before a jumbled mess of distant sounds and slow moving images was now loud and clear, bright and intrusive. Hermione was on the ground, blood dripping from her leg where she had scraped along the ground and a large bruise forming on her right arm. Harry was crouched now, still in front of her and spoke as calmly as he could. "That should help with the concussion, I didn't mean to pull you that hard; but it doesn't matter. This shield isn't designed for this kind of harassment. We need to think of a way out."

 _A way out? Shield?_

Her thoughts were answered almost immediately as a large fist crashed down on the shimmering blue dome that encased them. A small crack appeared where the crystal fist struck, making her jump in panic. "W-What do we do?" She mumbled, her mouth going completely dry. The shield was interesting, the way it encased them in a perfect dome. Noticing the wand in his hand it made sense, it must be powerful magic. Like what he had always said he could do if he had one.

Another blow crashed against the shield, causing it to shake and more cracks appeared. Harry was looking at her quite intensely, she could always see his brain whirling away. "Okay." He finally said. "I have a plan, it could work or well… We both die anyway, I guess." Hermione grimaced, not wanting to hear those words right now. Her head still pounded and she wondered what his plan was, it hurt to think about. If it was Harry's plan she was certainly not going to like it.

"You're going-" He stopped mid sentence as he watched what was essentially a crystal golem throw another powerful swing at the shield. He flicked his wand at some of the cracks and they started to disappear until another blow stopped the spell in it's tracks. It did however repair some of the damage. "You're going to run to that bathroom, the doors gone.. A lucky swing but if I just cast a shield as a makeshift door I can maintain that far easier than this dome. When I count to five, you run; got it?" He started to count up but Hermione threw her hands out in front of her.

"Wait, wait! What about you?" She asked, wondering how he fit into this master plan.

He smiled at her, and for once she thought it was really genuine. "I can't cast through that charm, and I can't fight it if I have to protect you without it - No offence."

"N-None taken." She said, knowing she was useless. She winced every time a huge fist struck the shield, creating ever more cracks but finally she nodded in acceptance and readied herself to run.

Harry counted up again, and as soon as he got to 5 the shield dropped and they both ran towards the bathroom narrowly missing the incoming swing of the golem, hermione skidded to a halt just inside and past the door frame. Harry however stopped just outside. He raised his wand and pointed it towards her. " _Protego!_ " He shouted, causing a similar blue shield to appear and filling the doorway. It was less opaque however and Hermione took that to mean it was stronger, more condensed in a smaller space.

She watched him run off, ducking under another swing of the huge crystal golem. The sound was a little distorted on her side of the shield. All she could do was stand there and be worried, but at the back of her mind, she wanted to see what he could do. The Tournament boasted she would be with a powerful wizard and while what Harry had done in the short time she had gotten to know him he had done incredible things but she still didn't think they were powerful. Or at least what they described.

Harry was running around, throwing what she realised where spells at the thing, most seemed to bounce harmlessly off the crystals that made up the golem but some hit their mark. One particularly purple one seemed to cause one of the bigger crystals on the main body to crack, causing a bellowing roar to come from it.

After what felt like twenty minutes however she was starting to get nervous. After that amount of time she expected it to be nothing but dust now with someone who could do magic in front of it. Instead if had only lost a few crystals and seemed angrier than it had been to begin with. Harry didn't look great either, he was limping after taking quite a big hit when he didn't expect it. The shield in front of her, that she was pressed up again often became clearer periodically but when Harry's bright emerald eyes caught sight of it it quickly bolstered in strength again.

 _What do we do, what do we do._

Her thoughts ran wild, from strange plans that would never work to even crazier ideas like being a distraction. She wouldn't last ten seconds against it, she knew but she desperately wanted to help. She was fed up with being useless, something he had to protect to make it easier for himself.

She screamed, clutching her hands over her mouth as Harry took a heavy hit and was thrown across the room. His back slammed against the stone wall and crumbled to a heap on the ground, his wand rolling out of his hand. "H-Harry?!" She yelled, praying he would answer her. He didn't move, but continued to lay motionless on the chamber floor on the other side. The golem approached him, pushing past one of the of the large pillars causing a few shards of rock to fall to the ground.

Hermione battled with herself, wondering what to do. The shield protecting her had vanished, caused by Harry being unconscious.

 _You can't just leave him. But what do I do? Think of what would have happened if he hadn't looked out for you._

Her internal struggle was settled with that last statement. Nervously and not being very steady on her feet she walked out of the room and quickly bench down to pick up a few large pieces of rock.

"Hey!" She yelled loudly, terrified but the adrenaline that was starting to rush through her body ignored her fear. She one of the rocks as hard as she could at the golem's body. It bounced off the crystal without leaving a scratch but it had done the job. Stopping just before Harry it looked around and found her standing between two pillars. Another rock hit it in the head this time and it roared in annoyance.

Turning it's back on Harry it charged for it. Hermione panicked, dropping the last few pieces of rock and running around the chamber and away from the charging golem. It crashed into one of the pillars, throwing large chunks of rock around the chamber and slowed slightly as it shook its crystal shaped head. It looked around and found where she was, half way between it and Harry but Hermione was already figuring out a plan.

 _Is it weakened? It definitely looked like it was stunned slightly from the crash. Could I keep doing it?_

She ducked as it lunged for her, and quickly scrambled back up and ran the opposite direction towards another pillar that was still standing. She banked on it not being very intelligent. She realised it was strange when a little flurry of happiness tricked through her when it started to charge at her again, coming straight for the pillar she was hiding behind.

Timing it right she waited until the last second before quickly diving out of the way. She cut her elbow on some of the rubble but hastily got back up and looked around her shoulder as she ran back to where she had been before. _Yes!_ She yelled in her head as it seemed to stumble and roar in frustration.

If she could just keep it up maybe she could do something, knock it out some how, just for long enough to get Harry awake again. She knew if he was awake he could do something, she had faith in him. It was an unlucky blow that caught him by surprise. Her overthinking had always been a pitfall of hers.

Paying little attention to the small fragments of rock and tile her foot slipped as her body weight pressed down on the rocky surface that littered the floor. She fell forward painfully, her chin hit the ground and she could taste blood in her mouth. Tears were falling quickly as she tried to scramble up but her strength was quickly leaving her.

Her small body was lifted off the ground suddenly and she screamed loudly, reverberating around the chamber as the golem lifted her up by her leg, crushing it painfully. The grip was strong as she screamed in pain with what felt like her ankle being crushed. She didn't know how much more she could take. _I messed up. I screwed it up… Mum._ The thoughts of her mother caused her to cry more as she was unceremoniously thrown across the chamber. Her body crashed into the hard rock, distinct snapping sounds came from her chest.

Inhaling sharply she could just make out Harry lying a few feet from her through tear stricken eyes. She was in a whole world of pain as her vision started to go blank. "H.. H-Harry…" She barely got the words out, and she wondered if they formed at all. Breathing was incredibly painful now as she heard the tell tale signs of the golem getting closer. Noticing both it's prey was out of action it didn't need to tire itself out anymore.

Just before her eyes closed however a faint voice spoke to her. "Hermione! Stay awake, dont pass out!" It yelled at her. She forced her eyes open and Harry was crouched over her, running his wand up and down her body and muttering here and there. The golem was trying to swat what looked like a bird made of stone out of the air as it dived again and again at it. "Stay with me, I'll end it quickly. I'm so sorry." Where his final words before he stood up and faced the golem head on. He raised his wand and a dense, almost golden light shot from the end of it.

It smashed into the golem, pushing it back slightly but the golem simply roared, it's anger back in full. It slowly battled against the light flooding from Harry's wand, and slowly rook large, earth shaking steps towards them both. Harry kept his wand held, although his arm was shaking from the force.

She watched as best she could with the dark canvas that was threatening to fall over her eyes. Small rocks were floating a few centimeters off the ground around the pair as Harry continued pumping the magic through his wand and hitting the golem. The crystals started to move as whatever spell Harry was using seeped into the gaps. Slowly they started vibrating themselves and the golem stopped. The smaller one were ripped from it's body first, falling to the floor, the light inside them vanishing. Forcing more magic into his wand the large crystals started to move as well and slowly the whole golem seemed to be coming apart forcefully as Harry ripped it apart with magic.

The golem almost screamed as the last few crystals were pulled from it's body before it fell to the floor with a crash. It's light now extinguished too. The room instantly darkened, their only light source a single bracket torch on the wall behind them. Harry's spell had arched off the golem's body, flying around the chamber creating large holes in the rock.

Harry looked back to check Hermione but her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. He turned to help her but before he could even raise his wand again he collapsed as well, falling to land next to her.

* * *

"You really can't do something about this, Albus?" Minerva Mcgonagall said from her chair in front of the headmaster. She closed the paper in her hands quickly, caring little about the crunched ends or slight tears and threw it onto the spare seat beside her.

Dumbledore also closed his paper, however much more calmly. "There is unfortunately nothing I can do, I hold no power in the Ministry anymore. I gave up those rights during Harry's third year." He said calmly.

"It's barbaric! How could they use those… Things! They guard vaults deep inside Gringotts and they're _highly_ resistant to magic. Most say they're on par with a dragon. The fact they even made it out alive… It's a miracle they did." She said strictly, crossing her arms.

Dumbledore smiled weekly. He certainly understood how they made it out alive. The heroic effort from Miss. Granger and Harry's incredible magic gave them the best odds of any of the champions. "I agree, however these tournaments are designed to test him. It wouldn't be much of a test if he waltzed through it all."

This appears to only aggravate the transfiguration teacher. "I'm not denying the boy isn't skilled Albus… We're all very, aware of his accomplishments. What about that poor girl, the muggle, she's in far more danger than he is."

He glanced down at the paper on his desk in front of him, looking at the unmoving image. The pair were lying at odd angles on the chamber floor. Loose pieces of rock and crystal scattered around everywhere. "Harry will see her through it safely, he has my full confidence-"

"You call nearly battered half to death confidence? Albus the poor girl nearly _died_. I know you disagree with the Tournament but _surely_ there is something you can do. Does the poor girl's parents even know?" Mcgonagall asked, clearly agitated.

He nodded. "I contact Mrs. Granger just as the Tournament began. I've been keeping in touch with her as the days go bye." He said. They had been exchanging owls since, she was rightly worried for her daughter but with Harry there she would at least make it out alive. "I fear however, there is a bigger plot."

"What do you mean, Albus?" She asked, her earlier aggression replaced with confusion. "Voldemort is gone, Harry saw to that. The wizarding world hasn't been this happy and full of life since 18 years ago."

"While you're correct, there are those at the Ministry that either see Harry as a threat or they are sympathisers. We cannot rule either out. The other three champions, while still difficult, had an easier time. They faced obstacles and creatures they could have found in our very library. I doubt Harry had even heard of a Sentry. They were only conceived a few years ago." Dumbledore said.

Mcgonagall tutted, clearly not liking any of it. "You know, that boy always amazed me while he was here. His parents would be proud." She said solemnly, remembering her long gone friends and allies.

"Indeed." He replied, nodding at her understanding. "He posses the capacity to control magic most people could spend a lifetime just trying to understand. It has been a privilege to watch him grow up, even with our ups and downs." He smiled fondly at some of the memories.

Hers weren't as pleasant. "Yes, well. I can certainly remember him blowing up half the classroom after one of your little arguments. What on earth possessed you to tell him to return to _my_ class without cooling off first?" She said, annoyed when Dumbledore chuckled in response.

"While his temper is very temperamental, he often produces incredible magic when aggravated I've found."

"Not when he bloody well destroys the lesson I'm trying to teach him it doesn't!"

He continued to chuckle, taking a sip of his tea. "I need you to contact Severus, I need a favour." He said out of the blue.

"Severus, why? He retired years ago. What could you need that our current potions master couldn't produce?"

Dumbledore simply smiled, taking another sip of his tea.

* * *

Hermione thought she was moving, something being dragged against the ground echoed in her ears. She tried to move her body but found even the slightest twitch sent a pang of pain down her spine. She was breathing but it felt strange, like something heavy was on her chest. Her eyes felt similar, heavy and not wanting to open. Her trainer caught something as she was pulled along, sending a shooting pain through her ankle.

As he hearing slowly came back she heard just as heavy breathing behind her. Whoever was pulling along her sounded just as exhausted as she was. Her stomach turned as she felt herself falling, but the heavy impact didn't arrive. Instead she landed on what was mostly soft. Large, deep breaths of air drifted past her ear as she lay there. Arms wrapped around her and pulled her gentle backwards a little.

She simply laid there, not knowing how long for. The comforting, almost warm embrace started to seem to warm her very bones. It was oddly comforting, and time seemed to fly by without her notice. It was next to impossible to actually know what time it was to begin with. Eventually, her eyes fluttered open. The soft glow of the candles on the wall were at first, a little much. Only being able to squint she found it difficult to make out exactly where she was. As her eyes got used to the light she realised they were in a very small room. It bare mostly bare, save for a small table with some food on large silver platters on the other side of the room. What she noticed most of all, was a small stone archway etched into the rock with a number two in the center.

 _So we passed the first one?_ She questioned internally, a sigh escaping her body at knowing she survived a round. She wondered how many there were however, she doubted she could keep up forever and especially if they got progressively more difficult over time. A she realised all this, a small panic settled in.

"Harry?" She whispered, her chest still hurting when she breathed or spoke.

No one responded, but she felt a twitch on her stomach and looked down. Familiar arms were wrapped around her, Harry's arms. His hands were bloody and small pieces of rock and dirt were littered in the cuts and scrapes that marked them. She noticed what looked like a burn mark, thin and running down his palm. Was that what happened if you used a wand? She imagined it wouldn't do that to a person, it was supposed to be your own magic. Knowing nothing about magic both frustrated her and scared her.

Turning her head, which hurt from stiffness and a few sharp shooting pains she saw he was asleep. His face was in a similar state to his hands, although a little better off. His hair was messy, but she wondered if that was it's natural state. Turning her head back, which felt a whole lot better she looked down at her hands, with Harry's resting on top. Earlier she might have yelled at him, or thought he was just messing with her. But this time, she was thankful; she was thankful for all the other times but she probably hadn't said that much to him. The warm feeling that seemed to flow into her body from his hands was worryingly welcome.

His hands seemed to twitch a lot, she found. The subtle movement was extremely noticeable in their current state and she wondered if he was in pain.

 _Probably, look at him, look at what he did to protect you._

The scene was frightening. The had mocked him about not being able to do _real_ magic when he didn't have his wand and frankly it wasn't all that spectacular when he did finally get one. Towards the end however, it was incredible. She felt it in the air, as if static electricity was suddenly present in everything around her. The tips of her fingers felt almost cold as the air flew around her. Then there was Harry himself. She doubted he noticed the stone under his feet cracking as large arcs of light smashed into it around him, thankfully not hitting her. Whatever it was he fought must have been incredibly tough, or at least possibly resistant to magic for him to have to produce that sort of feat. But then, was it a feat; or was that how everyone could control magic. Somehow, she didn't think so. What he had produced prior, in her mind, was what other witches or wizards could produce. For someone entering the Tournament though, they had to be strong.

 _I wonder if I really did luck out, being paired with him._

She knew for a fact that wasn't the first time he had had to do something like that. Stand tall against some sort of danger. He was confident, and proud. His parents must think the world of him, watching from the outside world; knowing how powerful their son was must be something great. In the back of her mind, she wished her father could see her now. How she plucked up her courage and acted out of the interests of someone else. She had always been soft, sheltered even. Her parents knew she was bullied at school. Her father had tried to toughen her up a bit, to give her some confidence but when push came to shove, she retreated in on herself. It had gotten better when she entered college but she was still just as isolated. She was generally smarter than the rest of her class and people saw it as hostility, like she was talking down to them. When she entered university she though, for the first time, she had a real friend but that turned out to be one of worst experiences in her life.

Her hands suddenly got a lot warmer and Harry shifted slightly behind her where he was resting against the wall. "Harry?" She called out, wondering if he was awake now.

"Mhmm." Was all she got in response.

"Are you okay?"

She felt him move his fingers, glancing over her own. "I guess, better than before. I just need some rest, before the next task starts." He said calmly, and not in his usual tone.

"What happened, back there in the chamber?" She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. She couldn't help but want to know what nearly killed her.

Harry didn't answer straight away and for a second she wondered if he had fallen asleep. "If I'm right then, that was a Sentry. I probably should have noticed honestly, I didn't think they would use one. They're pretty new."

"New?" She asked.

"Well, yeah. They protect some of the more expensive vaults in Gringotts, that's the wizarding bank by the way, so that they don't have to use as many dragons. There was this.. Incident before."

From his tone she wondered if that incident has involved him but decided to forget about it. "So what, they're just guards?"

"They're made of a special type of crystal and even though they're held together with some pretty complicated transfiguration and charms they're highly resistant to magic. So against wizards, they're the perfect deterrent if you're a thief." He explained.

It made sense to her, for the most part. A few words here and there that she didn't understand but she got the jist of it. That was why it was so difficult for him to destroy, because it was resistant to the one weapon he had; magic. "But… How did you destroy it then? You basically ripped it apart with magic. If it's supposed to be resistant then, how?" She frowned, not that he could see.

"Ah well, you see…" He began, seemingly trying to pick his words well. "I've got a lot of control over my magic, more than most."

 _I knew it!_

"I'm also more powerful, than most. Atleast so I've been told… So I guess I just overpowered it. Honestly, I just acted on instinct." He finished and she felt him shrug, which annoyed her.

"If you acted on instinct, that couldn't have been the first time." She knew her question was a loaded one, but at the moment she didn't care. They had time to wait, the stone archway hadn't revealed anything so they were stuck here. She couldn't at least get some answers out of him finally. She felt that, if she knew him better; maybe she could trust him more.

She didn't expect him to laugh. She felt him wince however, he wasn't letting on how much pain he was in and she herself didn't realise her fingers were subconsciously playing with a few of his as they spoke.

"I guess you could say that. It's not been very, easy." He said and she frowned again.

"You've said that before, but why? What's not been easy?" She pried.

He shifted slightly behind her, obviously uncomfortable. "Well… A lot has happened, especially when I was at school. There was a troll, my first year; ugly thing, smelled horrible too-" Hermione smiled. "Then there was this giant snake, called a basilisk. That was in my second year. I didn't have my wand for that one, so I had to use a sword-"

 _What?_

"-but that's a different story altogether really. At least, who it involved. What I'm getting at is, compared to most people I've had to deal with a lot more. Dumbledore, that's my mentor by the way, he tried to shield me from it for awhile but eventually he had to tell me. That I had a destiny I couldn't escape from." His voice had grown hard as he spoke and Hermione nervously continued to prie.

"A destiny?" She asked, looking down at her hands as they continued to play with a few of his fingers. His hands were much bigger than hers but she wasn't paying much attention to it.

Again he paused, as if contemplating if he should say anything. "A prophecy was made, before I was born. I guess it doesn't matter if I tell you, everyone know's now anyway. But basically, I had to defeat someone, someone that was killing other people. There were wars, because of him. A lot of good people, incredible people… Died."

She could hear the pain in his voice as he told her and she immediately felt guilty for asking so much. He didn't need to tell her anything about himself, they were essentially strangers. Stuck together for the sake of the Tournament.

"I'm sorry…" Was all she could say, her words failing her.

He laughed again, but it wasn't genuine. "It's in the past, something I unfortunately can't run from no matter where I put myself unfortunately. I'm sort of… Famous, in my world."

 _I'm paired with a celebrity?!_

"So what, you joined this to get away from the press?" She smirked, not understanding why she would tease him but it made her feel better when he laughed properly this time. "I guess so, yeah. I wasn't always alone during the rough times but sometimes I wish I was, so I could just run away from everything." He said, still laughing softly behind her.

She didn't fully understand what he was saying but she felt like she could relate a little.

"Your fiance?" She asked, not understanding where that question came from.

"Huh? Oh… Well, yeah. Daphne was there for a lot of it. Shouldn't have been, in all honesty."

"What's she like?" Again she didn't understand why she was asking these questions.

He had a confused look on his face which she couldn't see as she asked. "Daphne? Oh well, she's great. At first we kind of hated each other, being in different houses in school. But after this one in counter we sort of became friends. Her entire house basically hated me and was pretty hard on it's members so she couldn't openly say we were friends. In our later years of school though, she wanted more… And she wanted to be open about it, no more sneaking off to empty towers or anything."

Hermione didn't say anything straight away, instead processed what he had said.

 _So they're essentially best friends, a much stronger bond than what we have. Why do I care?_ She chastised herself, not understanding where these thoughts were coming from.

"I see… So you, l-love her?" She asked, a slight stutter slipping into her words.

"I do." He said confidently and Hermione felt something in her stomach, but she didn't know what it meant. "But… Maybe not how she want's me to. I was in a dark place, when I agreed. I… I don't know what to do really. I came here to escape it all, at least for a little while."

"Mhmm." Hermione said, or rather made the noise for. She had a faint smile on her face and for the first time in a long time, wondered if this was someone she could trust.

* * *

A/N: Please let me know if you're enjoying the story.


	5. Chapter 5

**Nightmares That Linger**

Chapter 5

* * *

Daphne Greengrass sat in her elegantly decorated room in the Greengrass manor. She didn't really care how rich her family was, or how much influence that entitled her too. Possibly the only thing she cared about was her own pride in her family. Greengrass' were strong, tough and generally smart. They accomplished what they set their mind on and turned heads wherever they went.

In school she was known only by her family name. No one, besides her best friend and Harry had actually gotten to know her. It was too much trouble, she was a Greengrass. Harry had been different. He hadn't had any misconceptions about what she was like, or cared what family she came from. She was sure if she was a muggleborn he wouldn't have cared.

 _So why does he have his hands around that muggle waist?!_

Her fights balled up tightly on each page of the Daily Prophet, she read the front page again and again. Harry was always front page, no matter what it was about, these days; everyone wanted to know about the saviour of the wizarding world. The other champions were on page two, but she didn't even read that far before she scrunched the paper up into a large ball and threw it as hard as she could across her huge bedroom; only making it half way towards her door.

"You're not jealous." She said out loud to herself. She couldn't possible be jealous. Jealous of a muggle? It wasn't heard of. She was a pureblood, not that it meant anything to Harry but it was besides the point. Her pride as a magical was on the line.

"He loves you. He said he did." Her voice sounded small, and she hated it. Her thoughts, ever since he had entered the tournament, were negative and self destructive. Her chat with Dumbledore hadn't helped much either. She suspected he knew more than he was letting on. He had never truly agreed with her, being Harry's girlfriend. When it eventually came up Harry didn't even seem all that interested as they spoke between each other in code. Even now she knew she was kept out of the loop with what really happened. There were things Harry wouldn't talk about no matter how she worded her questions.

But he chose her, out of everyone, she was his choice. Harry was probably _the_ most famous wizard alive currently and he had girls practically throwing themselves at him. They had a deeper bond than all of them combined. She was sure of it.

Her eyes drifted to the framed photo on her bedroom dresser. It was their final year at Hogwarts, picture Daphne was smoothing out Harry's dress robes before the doors to the Great Hall with a huge smile on her face. Harry was smiling back too, and at the time as he stared into her eyes she thought she saw deep love and affection reflected back. Now, she wondered what was going through his brain at the time.

Harry was hard. He always had been. Hot headed and stuck to his morals, the two couldn't be pulled apart. He was closed off, more than next person and had _far_ more secrets too. He practically spent the last three years of school in Dumbledore's office, doing God know's what. When the story about the prophecy was released she thought she understood everything.

She was second guessing everything now. Every new photo that the Tournament released. Every time _she_ was mentioned. It made her feel uncomfortable, insecure.

She hated it.

Falling back onto her bed she looked up at the canopy where a silhouette of Hogwarts was masterly painted, wishing she could rewind time.

* * *

"So Hogwarts is a castle?" Hermione asked in reply to one of Harry's comments.

They were both sitting against the wall now, having slept again for a few hours. Shoulder to shoulder they had talked about Harry's world and Hermione was slowly understanding more and more about it. A silver platter of food sat in front of them both. Hermione found it fascinating how it kept refilling itself. If she watched it, waiting the food to appear; it wouldn't. The second her gaze was somewhere else however more food would be there, as if by magic.

The large stone archway hadn't changed at all, and according to Harry it probably would soon. So the pair of them were stocking up on as much food as they could eat. While she had been unconscious and dragged to this room Harry apparently had to pass a barrier of flames. While the flames didn't hurt them, it burned the wand; reducing it to ashes. It was apparently another shortcut, designed to hamper the wizard if he wanted the easier path. She understood why he would chose it over the longer and possibly more dangerous path. They both had been at their limit. Well, she had; she was sure Harry was capable of more if he was prepared from the start.

"A huge castle, probably like out of one of your fairy tales or something. I've lived there, my whole life; until recently that is. It'll always be home to me." Harry replied, a smile on his face as he remembered fond memories.

Hermione took another small piece of chicken and pulled strips off the bone to eat. "And they teach you magic there? You have lessons and things?"

"Oh yeah, dead boring most of them."

Hermione looked scandalised. "How can you say lessons are boring?!" She said hotly, prepared to defend her love for knowledge.

Harry smirked, causing her to pout. She didn't know she could pout.

"Most of them are. There's interesting things too mind, like Defence and Transfiguration. Stuff like History of Magic though? I was asleep most of the time." He said.

She still couldn't understand and as he looked over she gave him a mock glare. "You should be excited to learn." She said. "Everyone should be…" She mumbled afterwards.

"Yeah, you strike me as the bookworm type." He said, laughing.

"And what's wrong with that?" Hermione whispered, clearly a little hurt.

Harry gave her a little nudge with his shoulder when he noticed. "I never said it was a bad thing Hermione. Daphne can't get enough of books, you're not the only one. There's a whole house at Hogwarts who are probably like you. They love learning and stuff, _bunch of weirdos in my opinion_ … But there's nothing wrong with it." She caught the part he whispered and glared at him again, but what he said wasn't mean. In Fact it was one of the most positive things someone has said about her.

"Thanks." She said, eating a few pieces of chicken she had pulled off the bone. "And houses, they're like groups right?"

"Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The four houses of Hogwarts. They're like your home when you're there, each one like to have students that suit the house. Understand?" He asked, looking across at her.

She shook her head, not quite following.

"Take you for example, you were picked to be partnered with me; so Gryffindor. We're known for our courage and strength of character and all that. Hufflepuff are just a friendly bunch. Ravenclaws don't leave the library and Slytherins are all jerks trying to plot your death. Make sense?" He asked as he chuckled to himself as he counted the houses off on his fingers.

She nodded, understanding most of it but wondering how accurate his descriptions were. To her, Hufflepuff sounded the best. An entire house and group dedicated to being friendly? That was something she craved more than anything.

"Don't worry about it, I'll show you it all anyway; when we beat this thing."

Hermione was sceptical. "Will I be allowed? I mean, your world probably has laws and stuff that are against that."

Harry simply waved it off with a shake of his hand. "Don't worry about that."

 _It makes me_ more _worried when a troublemaker tells me not to worry, Harry._

"Sure." She said, deciding to keep her inner monologue to herself.

Harry knew she didn't but smiled anyway. As he shifted his body a little he winced and clutched his chest through his slightly burnt shirt, but he tried to play it off by reaching for something. She noticed out of the corner of her eye but didn't say anything. Physically, she was a lot better but still needing some rest. She suspected Harry wasn't doing as well but that thought confused her more.

 _He's full of magic, shouldn't he be fine by now? Or did he use to much helping me?_

She wondered if a person could use _too_ much magic. She subtly watched him for awhile as he ate more food. One thing she really noticed, was he ate a lot. "Do you need to eat for magic or something?" She couldn't help asking.

"Huh?" He asked, some bread halfway to his mouth. "Oh, it helps I guess yeah."

Mirroring him she ate some buttered bread herself. She usually wouldn't be this close to a boy, let alone almost leaning against one. No matter what she told herself though, she couldn't seem to pull herself away from him. The comforting warmth tempting her back.

"So… I can't stay in your world then, if we make it through?" She asked, deciding to change the subject before she could turn red from embarrassment. She wasn't sure where the question came from though, perhaps at the back of her mind she wouldn't mind the possibility. Could she bring her mother?

Harry leant his head back in though. "There's law's and stuff against it, but they're really for stopping muggles from finding out. I guess they do obliviate people, that means to wipe their memory by the way, so I'm not sure. Probably not… If anyone would know it's Dumbledore." He said, clearly thinking about it more.

"Dumbledore? You mention him a lot." She said, noticing the name was brought up more often than not.

She couldn't quite understand the emotion that passed over his face at the question. But she did remember they had apparently fallen out from a brief mention before. "He's my mentor, and my gaurdian. I should mention that in my world, a mentor is sort of like your trainer. If that makes sense."

"But what about your parents?" Hermione said in confusion. If this Dumbledore guy was his guardian where were his parents?

This time however she knew it was the wrong thing to say. "They're dead." He said simply, looking at the half eaten bread in his hands.

"I-I'm so sorry Harry... I wouldn't have said it…" She started sputtering but Harry stopped her when he started to laugh and held up a hand.

 _Why's he laughing?_

"Don't worry about it. It was a long time a go and I've had that reaction a thousand times already." He continued to chuckle at her dumbstruck look. "Honestly, it's sad but. It's not like I don't know them in a way." He continued to say. He had a subtle smile on his face as he looked at nothing in particular but she noticed how blank his eyes looked.

Hermione stretched her legs out in front of her and played with a few holes in the fabric. Her jeans, much like Harry's, had taken quite the beating in the chamber from small but sharp rocks that had littered the place. "I-I lost my father." She said in almost a whisper. She wasn't sure what made her say it, maybe because of what Harry had said. He didn't say anything back and for a moment she thought he hadn't heard. If it wasn't for the fact that Harry had placed his hand over her own that was resting in her lap she would have.

"It was during my first year of university. He was just driving to work, like usual. He works in London and apparently, the police said some trucks went out of control and hit him." She said quietly, not wanting to look up. It was probably the first time she had spoken about it to anyone besides her mother. Her attention was stolen as her hand felt cold, she found herself staring at it.

"It's hard. Losing a loved one." Harry said, pulling her attention back to him. He looked paler than before.

"Are you OK?" She asked, pulling her hand away from the unfamiliar cold touch.

Harry nodded, looking at the wall opposite them. "I'm fine, just… Tired, that's all."

Hermione wasn't sure if he was lying or not but left it at that. There was no use prying and after talking about her father her mouth suddenly felt dry anyway. She didn't feel like talking about their lives anymore.

 _We're just strangers anyway. Stuck in the same situation._

* * *

"I'm coming, one second!" Danielle Granger said as she rushed from the kitchen to answer the door. She rubbed her hands on her apron before opening the front door.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Granger. I hope you're well?" Dumbledore said with a smile. He wasn't wearing the smart muggle clothes like before. His wizard robes however were much more casual than he usually liked to wear.

She nodded, ushering him inside. "I am. Please, come in; if you'd take a seat in the lounge I'll be right with you."

Dumbledore closed the door behind him and made his way towards the loud while Danielle rushed back to the kitchen. She returned shortly, placing a small plate of freshly made cookies on the coffee table between them. "Please, help yourself." She said, indicating to the plate. Dumbledore smiled once again and took one, enjoying it greatly.

"You… You said there was some news? About Hermione?" She asked nervously, clutching her hands in her lap. Her words tumbled out in worry.

"Straight to the point I see. It is of course what my visit involved. Very well." He reached into his robe and pulled out a small rolled up newspaper and passed it over to her. The newspaper had come out that morning, and frankly Dumbledore couldn't be happier with it's contents. It wasn't front page news, but the second page was something to be proud of. Even if they didn't know.

Danielle looked over the front page, internally wincing as she read. The image, which was moving depicted Harry throwing bright light at a monster of sorts. It explained what had happened and he blood seemed to drop in temperature. Her poor daughter was having to do the kinds of things she read in books. She was worried beyond belief but she was glad the boy on the front page was with her. He looked strong as he stood before her.

"If I may," Dumbledore said and she jumped slightly, almost forgetting he was there. "Perhaps turn to page two?"

She turned the large page over and stared at the double page spread. There were at least five small pictures of Hermione. All laughing or smiling. She looked a little worse for ware but she seemed almost happy. "She's, smiling?" She said to herself. Whenever she was home from school there would be that mask of happiness. Her laughs were sometimes genuine but not like what she was seeing from the paper.

"I-I don't understand?" She said, her brain coming to a halt. "Isn't this supposed to be something dangerous? You said it would be?"

Dumbledore leaned back into the comfortable sofa, a huge beaming smile on his face. "Indeed it is, one of the most in the Tournament's history so far in fact. I believe she has found some comfort in her partner however."

"Partner?" She asked, her mind jumping to delusioned conclusions.

"Harry. I think I mentioned him last time?" He said, reminding her of the photo she had been given.

She hadn't forgotten it, it was in the kitchen. Pinning on the cork board they had on the wall for notes and things. Everytime she saw the boy, she seemed to make a silent prayer. "He's keeping her safe then? Like you promised?" Her words were almost desperate as she continued to read the article. It seemed the wizarding world was asking who she was. Her eyes couldn't seem to look away from her daughters laughing face or the smile as she talked to Harry.

"He's been upholding his task admirably. While there is reason to worry, I have full faith in him to not just finish the Tournament but to keep your daughter safe. They've cleared the first task, which is a good sign, even if they came out with some injuries."

"Injuries? What injuries?" She suddenly asked, her head finally coming up from the paper in front of her.

"They were pretty minor." He lied. "The worst that has happened was where they were both knocked unconscious. But there's nothing to fear, they're perfectly fine."

Danielle breathed a sigh of relief, she wasn't happy with Hermione getting even a scratch but, it wasn't in her control. She had to put her trust in someone else, someone she had never met. Frankly the whole thing was still insane for her. Every morning when she made her breakfast and saw the moving picture of Harry, it nearly freaked her out every time.

"Can I keep this?" She asked, gesturing to the paper.

Dumbledore nodded, as it that was the intention. "Of course, I will try and bring you news when I can… But please understand the difficulties. Technically within our laws you should not know anything about me or the Tournament."

"I understand."

Dumbledore stood to leave, giving her a slight bow. "I unfortunately cannot stay, I would love to discuss more however I have a few appointments I cannot miss."

"Thank you so much Mr. Dumbledore, you have no idea how much I appreciate what you're doing."

Danielle quickly folded the paper up, placing it on the table. Before Dumbledore made it to the doorway however he turned and waved his hand at the plate of cookies; summoning one to his hand. "I must say you're quite the baker. Almost addicting from the first bite."

She blushed slightly at the praise and smiled. "Thank you, with Hermione gone… I've a lot of spare time, let's just say that."

After she led him out of the house and said their goodbyes she all but ran back to the lounge and opened the paper again. She wasn't that interested in their news or what the articles actually said. It was the pictures she couldn't help but stare at.

Opening a drawer underneath the table she took out a large pair of scissors. Just as she was about to cut into the page she stopped.

 _Would it work?_

She decided to try it on a different page, a weird looking woman stood in front of a store showing off what looked like cauldrons. As she cut into the page and around the image her heart skipped a beat when it didn't stop moving. She stopped cutting almost immediately and skipped back to the second and third page. She took her time, and a lot of care to cut around the square pictures of her daughter.

Picking the now isolated pictures up she walked into the kitchen and stopped before the large cork board. Taking some pins from the corner she pinned them to the board one by one next to the one she had been given by Dumbledore.

Taking a step back, she almost wanted to cry as she looked at the smile and laughter of her daughter.

 _I wish you could see her._ She thought, hoping wherever her husband was now; that he could see her shining through adversity.

* * *

Hermione hadn't realised she had fallen asleep again. She also didn't want to acknowledge the small amount of drool on Harry's shoulder, but she couldn't have everything. What woke her up was the cold, as long as she was touching Harry she generally felt warm. Like he had his own warming spell on him at all times. So for the chill down her spine to wake her up, it was a little disconcerting.

Once she remembered where she was she noticed the mist that was slowly seeping in through the open archway. She quickly elbowed Harry in panic to wake him up. She ignored his groaning as he mumbled about unfair harassment.

"The archway, it's opened!" She shouted, dragging him up to where she now stood.

Harry looked at the archway, confirming it was actually open. "And you couldn't have told me that like a normal person?" He asked, rubbing his ribs.

"Oh stop being such a baby, I panicked. You're the wizard here, not me."

"Well if you're so confident you can stick your head through and have a look, right?" He said, leaning against the wall and smirking at her.

"I-I didn't say anything about being confident!" She argued back, but she quickly realised he was joking and turned around in a huff.

Harry laughed, giving her a pat on the shoulder. "Oh don't be such a sore loser Hermione. Let's go."

Hermione followed from behind. She left her bag back in the chamber so she had nothing to carry which made her once again feel useless. As they passed the archway, where the stone had literally vanished. She noticed large runes around the edge. She couldn't read or understand them, but she found them oddly pretty.

The fog was up to their knees as they walked through the tunnel. Thankfully there was a light at the end of it, unlike the huge trek that had to do before. She stumbled on loose rocks a few times, not being able to see her own feet. Thankfully Harry was there as an object she could land on.

As they reached the end of the tunnel the bright light they could see turned out to be moonlight. The tunnel ended and a huge, dark forest began. She began to walk forwards to see more but Harry held out his arm, suddenly looking very serious and blocking her from moving.

"Hold on." He said quietly. She wondered what the need for all the cloak and daggers were for but he didn't elaborate. "Can you hear that?" he whispered, looking over his shoulder to her.

Hermione listened intently, and for a split second she thought she heard a voice.

"This forest isn't just for us." Harry said, and she immediately knew there would be other champions here too.

"They won't attack us though, right?"

She somehow already knew what he was going to say. "They will if it's in their interest too." He warned. "Stick to me at all times, got it?" He said seriously. She nodded in reply. "Here." He held out his hand, waiting for her to hold it. "The fog could be something more, I don't want to get separated."

Getting more scared by the second with how serious he suddenly was she reached out and held his hand. The familiar, pleasant feeling slowly came back as they walked side by side with Harry only slightly ahead of her. The subtle gesture for her protection spoke volumes to Hermione. The fact that he was doing this, when he didn't need too instilled a lot of confidence in her, more than if she had been abandoned and left for dead.

The sound of grass and twigs crunching beneath them was the only sound they could seem to hear as they moved deeper into the forest. She wasn't sure what Harry was looking for, or if he was just hoping he was going in the right direction. Occasionally she thought she could see something quickly moving through the trees, but the second she tried to concentrate it vanished.

 _Probably just the fog._ She kept saying to herself.

Ever since the huge crystal golem she was on edge, she didn't want another one of those. Especially now Harry had no wand. Occasionally they would pass these strange berry bushes and even though she had eaten earlier every time she say one she had the odd desire to eat them. Harry seemed to tug her past them when he noticed her reach for one.

"Never eat the berries, you don't know what they could do." He said, pulling her away from them again.

Everytime he did it she felt stupid for having those thoughts but it wasn't long until something happened. It began by Harry yanking her behind a large tree and putting his hand over her mouth to stop her shouting out.

Her mumbled behind his hand were lost as he listened towards the small clearing in front of them. "Don't shout, OK?" He whispered into her ear. She nodded so he removed his hand and hit him quietly in the arm. "And don't do that so suddenly!" She whispered back before peering around the tree like Harry was doing.

"What are we looking at exactly?" She whispered again, Harry simply nudged her and she glared at the back of his head.

She didn't have long to stare however before she ducked as a red light streaked over her head. Harry immediately pulled her back behind the tree for safety.

"Who's there?!" A male voice shouted from the concealed clearing. "I'll warn you I'm armed with a wand!" He yelled again at the lack of a response.

 _Oh well that's just fantastic._

"Harry wait!" She whispered frantically as he stepped out from behind the tree. "I'm unarmed!" He shouted back. Hermione continued to stay hidden behind the tree, if Harry wanted her with him he no doubt would have dragged her.

The sounds of crunching footsteps could be heard and through the fog a man, a little older than Harry stepped forwards. He held his wand out in front of him, ready to cast. At the sight of Harry though he seemed to freeze.

"Potter?"

 _Potter?_

"You're him right? Harry Potter." He said, as if confirming it to himself. Harry hadn't said anything, he was too busy looking at the person behind the man.

A girl, probably around Hermione age was a few feet back looking utterly terrified. The man noticed where he was looking and walked back and grabbed her arm, pulling her forward. "Don't worry about her, she's just scared that's all."

Hermione peeked her head around to look, the fog was pretty heavy here, the girl did look scared and Hermione pitied her. If she looked that worried then her partner couldn't be that nice if he just allowed her to be scared.

"Where's your muggle?" The mana said, speaking up again.

 _I'll show you where if you call me_ his muggle _again._ She thought bitterly.

Harry continued to look at the girl, ignoring him. His green eyes seemed to be boring into hers. "Look Potter, I don't care who you are but get lost alright? This place is plenty big enough."

Finally, Harry spoke up. "You don't mind if we just rest here for a bit? I don't have a wand, so we're no threat. We've been walking for awhile now."

"Who's we?" The man said, obviously knowing what he meant.

Harry gestured for her to come out of hiding so she slowly walked out and stood next to him. She shivered as the man's eyes seemed to trail over her but she didn't say anything, not wanting to get Harry into trouble. The man seemed to be thinking it over, and she wondered if Harry had an ulterior motive too.

 _Why else would he just suddenly ask to rest with them. He was always telling me how dangerous other people were._

"Fine." He said eventually, deciding that they weren't a threat.

Harry nodded and took her hand again, walking towards them. Close enough to properly see them now she noticed the man was taller than Harry, and he seemed to carry himself with dignity. She couldn't help but not trust him though. The girl, who's light blonde hair was in tatters was nearly shaking as she stood there with her dress and short sleeved shirt.

As they passed she noticed Harry give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and she stopped shivering. A look of amazement in her eyes and the beginnings of a small smile tugging at her lips. It instantly dropped off her face however when the man looked at her.

The four walked back into the thick fog, and once threw it a small clearing was present where the fog seemed to be far thinner. Thick trees blocked a lot of the view. Two sleeping bags were on the floor in front of one of the large trees with a large rucksack like she had brought with her in the corner.

"There's a stream to the west," The man said, pointing to his right. "We've been getting water from it. Go and get some." He said to the girl. Hermione saw the panic in her face at that but she didn't argue, instead walking through the mist towards where the stream was. The pair were talking between themselves. Harry wasn't saying all the much but it seemed like it was becoming quite heated and she heard words like wards which she didn't understand.

Feeling terrible for the girl, she made a quick decision and followed after her; not wanting her to be alone.

"Hey!" She shouted when she caught up.

The girl turned quickly and jumped at the noise but when she saw it was Hermione she seemed to deflate a little. "Are you okay?" Hermione asked when she caught up to her.

Nodding the girl spoke nervously. "I'm fine, it's just all pretty terrifying isn't it? I mean, this thing we're in."

Oddly enough Hermione wasn't the nervous. She was terrified at first, but after the first task she somehow felt like she had more confidence. It was probably because of seeing what Harry could do, but also because she experienced it. "Don't worry about it, it get's better. You've got a wizard who can do magic to protect you."

The girl looked over Hermione's shoulder and nodded. "M-My names Summer, by the way." She said nervously.

"Hermione, nice to meet you."

They chatted for while as they took the short walk to the stream. Apparently they had been here for hours and had set up camp so to speak. They had had a similar experience to their first task but with less dangers. She knew from the start that her partner was nothing like Harry. From her stories she didn't mention him in a good light, which didn't surprise her.

They both got along well as they started to fill up some bottles Summer had in a small bag with water. She could clearly see that Summer was more of a girly girl than she was but it wasn't a bad thing. In a way she was just glad to have met someone other than Harry.

"So what did you do then?" Hermione asked her, laughing. They were telling each other what had happened in the first task. "Summer?" She turned around to look at where Summer was putting the bottles in the bag.

The next moment Summer was on top of her. Her hands clasped forcefully on her neck as she tried to stop Hermione from breathing. "-mmer" Was all she could make out. The half filled water bottle was on it's side and slowly the water was pouring into her hair as she tried desperately the push the girl off of her. A few flashbacks of the corridor flooding caused her to panic more. The girl was strong and the blank look in her eyes told her that she wasn't in control.

She tried to shout for help but the remaining air was slowly being cut off. Her vision was starting to go hazy and black as she struggled to pull the hands from her neck. The forest was quiet apart from the sound of the stream and muffled cries for help.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter might seem to move a little fast. It's kind of just needed plot.


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